Lowry postpones big leap
Shane Lowry uttered the words Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup captain Colin Dalgleish was dreading yesterday.
Still dazed after his incredible Baltray performance, he told the nation: "I can't really see myself playing amateur golf after what's happened over the weekend. I think it would be a big step down and I wouldn't have any interest in it really.”
If that’s not a clear message of intent to skip having a bash at the Americans in September, what is?
Yet Lowry, a 22-year old national hero on Sunday, has wisely given himself 48 hours to weigh up his options and consider the arguments of his skipper and triple Major winner Padraig Harrington, who believe he has a golden opportunity to say goodbye to the amateur game on its greatest stage at Merion in September.
Shane LowryAfter the unbelievable emotion of his play-off win over Robert Rock in The 3 Irish Open on Sunday, Lowry celebrated in style after thumbing a lift home with An Taoiseach and fellow Clara man Brian Cowen.
Dalgleish was relieved to hear that Super Shane has at least decided to turn down the chance to turn professional this week and tee it up in the BMW PGA at Wentworth.
Lowry said: "No, I'm not going to jump into anything. It is very tempting, especially when you could be teeing it up in the likes of Wentworth this week with €4.5m worth of prize money, but I don't think I'm ready to make that decision.
"Even if I was going to turn professional I wouldn't be taken up that invite to that tournament anyway, it would be too soon. It would be too hard to play well over there after what happened over the weekend.
"And the media attention wouldn't be great for my first tour event really. I'd be under a lot of pressure to play well over there.”
Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy have urged Lowry to turn professional and he appears to be leaning that way.
McIlroy said: "I’d tell him to turn pro. I’ve told him. Sitting over lunch with him on the delay yesterday, we were talking about it and I said, ‘It’s up to you but I know what I’d do.’
"You’d learn a lot more out here than you would playing five more amateur events waiting for the Walker Cup.”
But Lowry insisted: "I'm going to have to think about that over the next few days. I've a lot of people to sit down and talk with, and I'll make that decision probably on Wednesday or Thursday and see what happens from there. I can't really say if I'm going to turn pro or not.
"I know, that's what a lot of people are saying. But as I said yesterday, I'm just going to wait until during the week and I'll announce then what's going to happen and see what the story is.”
Lowry turned The 3 Irish Open from a damp squib into a explosive firecracker and he was still enjoying the buzz of his incredible achievement when he opened his eyes yesterday, wondering if it had all been a surreal dream.
He said: "It's unbelievable. I still don't know what to think about everything. I still can't believe I'm after winning yesterday.
"When I woke up this morning it was crazy and it's not going to sink in for a while. The crowds were unbelievable. I heard there was something like 30,000 people there.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life. It was crazy, like something you'd see at a football match, especially the way they were in onto the green afterwards. It was out of this world.
"Especially for the play-off holes, the crowds were just crazy. And when you hit your second shot down near the green the crowds moved in behind you, it was like something you'd see in the Open championship. It was unbelievable.”
Lowry was just the third amateur to win on the European Tour and the first to win on his debut.
Reflecting on an unforgettable day, he described how he could hardly believe what he was achieving.
He said: "I knew I had a chance going out yesterday morning when I was tied for the lead but when I went two behind, I thought 'here we go these guys are going to make a few birdies'.
"They didn't really make many mistakes, Robert holed a lot of good putts for par but then on 14 I holed a good putt for birdie and on 16 as well to go one ahead and I couldn't believe I was in that situation, one ahead with two to play in the Irish Open.
"Unfortunately Robert holed a great putt on 17 to bring it back to all square and we ended up going into the play-off.
"I missed a very short putt to win on the last. It was heartbreaking, I just couldn't believe I missed it because I thought really I was going to get it.
"I thought too much about it and the nerves just got the better of me. At the end of the day that's just the way it went and even Rory McIlroy said it to me, he said it's just so hard to win - to hole that final putt.
"He was saying he had a couple of close misses and it's just so hard to hole a putt to win in a European Tour event.”
Lowry full deserved his victory after following a first round 67 with an incredible 10 under par 62 that gave him a two stroke lead over the field going into the weekend.
And confessed that he was lucky to avoid the bad weather on Friday morning that ko’d the likes of Padraig Harrington and John Daly.
He said: "I was fortunate enough with the weather over the first two days. Some people got the bad end of the draw and I got the good end of the draw, and I took advantage of that.
"The course was playing very short and I managed to shoot 62. I still don't know how I managed to do that but that gave me the confidence that I needed to believe in myself that I could win really.”
The Lowry family was out in force at the 18th but there were also plenty of management companies lurking in the background.
They likes of ISM or Dublin based Horizon Sports Management already had him on their radar before he teed it up.
As Lowry explained: "It's funny, last week during the practice rounds was the first time I've had management companies approach me and I'm going to have a make a decision at some stage.”
That decision will have to wait for later this week but it would appear that Lowry will take some convincing to stick around for the East of Ireland Championship at Baltray next week.