Lowry gets ready to finally putt for dough

IF THE past week or so has been a bit of a blur for Shane Lowry, this week’s European Open at The London Club, where the 22-year-old will make his professional debut, will, at least, allow him to start swinging a club again – even if, this time, it will be for money. From now on, every shot he hits is for his livelihood.

Lowry can expect a lot of handshaking on the range from players welcoming him to life on tour. And among those seeking him out will be Robert Rock, the player he beat in the Irish Open play-off.

“I think he’s made the right decision (turning pro). I didn’t get the chance to congratulate him properly, so I will look for him,” said Rock.

One of the reasons Rock didn’t get the opportunity to pass on his good wishes to Lowry at Baltray was because the Offalyman was in the middle of a maul normally reserved for Croke Park.

Of the crowd’s exuberance, Rock remarked: “I was prepared for it. We’d had a little taste of it on Saturday (in the third round), but it was nowhere near the same sort of numbers. I knew straight from the first hole when I played with him on Saturday that he was a very tidy player and everybody was going to have their work cut out to beat him, and that’s how it turned out. He kept his swing together very well under the pressure. It was a remarkable thing to do, wasn’t it?”

He added: “I couldn’t have done that at 22. It was very impressive. I just wasn’t that good. I feel I could do it now, but at 22 and in your first event as well, in your home country, that’s very impressive.”

Lowry is one of 10 Irish players on duty at the European Open. He is joined by Rory McIlroy, who has moved up to 16th in the world rankings following his fifth-place finish in the PGA, Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Michael Hoey, Gary Murphy and Gareth Maybin.

McDowell, now back into the world’s top-50, in 47th position, hopes Lowry can make a comfortable transition into the paid ranks.

“My advice? Just not to follow the crowd. Do his own thing. Stick with his own coach, and don’t go changing things just because he’s in pro ranks now,” advised McDowell, who was forced to make a quick adjustment himself when he won the Scandinavian Masters in just his fourth start as a professional.

McDowell claimed: “It is back to reality a little bit this week as Shane is really starting from scratch. (How he does) really depends how he deals with it all mentally. It’s a big change, a big step and he’s into the pro world now. It’s a cut-throat world.

“His golf game looks fantastic and looks good enough to survive out here. But it’s a big step-up playing a 30-week schedule. These boys are good out here. They don’t make mistakes like Shane would be used to seeing in the amateur ranks.”

Having finished third in last year’s European Open, McDowell is looking forward to returning to the course but, on the advice of his sports therapist Dale Richardson, the Ulsterman has decided not to play in the pro-am. He will have treatment on his leg injury (a second-degree tear to the right anterior muscle) and will cut back on practice. But it shouldn’t interfere with his tour schedule.

In fact, McDowell, who had planned to play the Austrian Open, which has been rescheduled to September, has accepted an invitation to play in the St Jude Classic in Memphis the week before the US Open at Bethpage.

“I was keen to play Austria, but when that got cancelled I was keen to play anywhere, so I got into Memphis and that’s big.”

Ironically, given all the hype surrounding Lowry’s move into the professional ranks, Australian Scott Arnold, who, up to last week, was the number one amateur in the world, has turned pro with barely a murmur. Arnold will also make his pro debut in the European Open, where he is playing on a sponsor’s invitation.

The field at the London Club this week includes 14 of the top-50 players in the world, including US Masters champion Angel Cabrera. Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who has been overtaken as the top European in the world rankings by Paul Casey, gets an immediate opportunity to trade places with the Englishman.

Ross Fisher, runner-up to Casey at Wentworth, will be defending the title.

Pádraig Harrington, meanwhile, is building up to the US Open his own way and will bypass next week’s Wales Open at Celtic Manor in favour of the prestigious Memorial tournament at Muirfield Village (Jack Nicklaus’s event).

The Dubliner will then play in Memphis before heading on to Bethpage.