Lowry and Power mean business as they top and tail GB and I Hero Cup side
Shane Lowry. Picture: USGA
Shane Lowry has vowed to take no prisoners as he leads out Great Britain and Ireland alongside skipper Tommy Fleetwood in the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi today.
Just three of the European Ryder Cup side hammered 19-9 at Whistling Straits are in action at Abu Dhabi Golf Club with Lowry and Fleetwood set to take on Continental Europe's Alex Noren and Thomas Pieters in the opening fourballs of a match that's designed to help European skipper Luke Donald prepare for September.
The other veteran of 2021, Tyrrell Hatton, takes compatriot Jordan Smith under his wing against Thomas Detry and Antoine Rozner in match two, but Donald will also be keen to see Séamus Power and Scot Robert MacIntyre anchor the GB&I team against Austrian PGA Tour star Sepp Straka and Poland's Adrian Meronk, the reigning Irish Open champion.
"I'm probably one of the most competitive people you'll meet," Lowry said of his desire to win this week. "So I'm okay with it - I'll make enemies for 18 holes, no problem."
While absentees such as Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland look like certainties for Rome, Lowry wants to show Donald exactly why he's made winning back the Ryder Cup his number one goal for 2023.
Séamus Power. Picture: PGA of America
"We're all going to be out there trying to beat each other up a little bit and be very competitive against each other," he said. "We all want this a lot, even though there's a lot of Ryder Cup chat this week, I feel like as a team we really want to win this week and I'm looking forward to being part of the GB&I team and looking forward to winning the tournament."
It's also a critical week for Donald, who will have six picks in September.
"It was extremely important to get an event like this back on the schedule," Donald said. "It will give us an opportunity to see these guys in a team room and see how they perform in matchplay. This is a great first stepping stone towards building blocks towards a very successful Ryder Cup in Rome.
"We don't play a lot of matchplay or foursomes, so we're seeing how they react and testing out some possible partnerships that might stand the test of time in Rome."
France's Victor Perez and three-time DP World Tour winner Guido Migliozzi take on English duo Callum Shinkwin and Matt Wallace in match three before Continental Europe captain Francesco Molinari and Denmark's Nicolai Højgaard face Scot Ewen Ferguson and England's Richard Mansell.
There should also be fireworks in match five as Power and MacIntyre take on Meronk and Straka in a potential cracker.
"It's playing for more than just yourself," said Power, who is determined to stake his claim to a dream place on the Ryder Cup team in Rome. "There's no money or anything like that. It's just representing family, friends, team, continent, country and it's something you dream about playing."
Meanwhile, the Legends Tour has released its 2023 schedule and while Paul McGinley will no longer host, the Irish Legends will played at Seapoint Golf Links in Co Louth from June 23-25.
