"Grateful" Lowry handed Ryder Cup wild card

Shane Lowry of Ireland walks on the second hole during practice round 1 at Augusta National Golf Club, Monday, April 3, 2023.

Shane Lowry admitted he was “grateful" to Luke Donald for his Ryder Cup wild card and insisted he'll do everything to "create more memories" and win back the trophy in Rome.

The Offaly man was named alongside Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Justin Rose and rookies Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark and Sunday's Omega European Masters winner Ludvig Aberg of Sweden as the men to join automatic qualifiers Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Robert MacIntyre, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick on the plane to Rome.

Donald described Shane Lowry as "made for the big occasions" as he handed the Clara man his fourth pick after Fleetwood, Straka and Rose.

It's a second successive pick for the world No 37 (36), who was also a wild card for Pádraig Harrington in that painful 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits in 2021.

"I'm not in a pub; I'm actually in a golf club," Lowry said from Carton House, where he is doing a company day when asked by Sky Sports presenter Nick Dougherty if he was already celebrating his pick.

"I'm obviously incredibly proud, grateful. All of the above. Very excited for Rome. The last one hurt a little bit. And, you know, I'm excited for a home Ryder Cup. And like I said, very grateful that Luke's given me the opportunity to go there and show what I can do again."

Lowry got one win from his three matches at Whistling Straits, where he partnered Hatton to a one-up victory over Tony Finau and Harris English in the Saturday foursomes, fist-pumping wildly after he holed the winning putt on the 18th.

Donald said: "Again, you want that balance. And we saw in Whistling Straits, you know, the passion. We saw those videos of him fist-pumping those putts, and we know he's a big-time player.

"He's won an Open Championship, WGCs, won at Wentworth, you know, the list goes on and on. For those big occasions against the very best players, he turns up in those moments.

"So there's nothing quite like the Ryder Cup. It's one of the biggest moments, and we saw his passion two years ago, and obviously, I'm super excited to have him part of the team because he is great in the team room as well."

Lowry loves team sports, and while he was disappointed to lose 4&3 to Finau and English in the Friday afternoon fourballs alongside McIlroy on his debut and then lose 4&2 to Patrick Cantlay in Sunday's singles, he was one of the most passionate members of the team.

"Obviously, we don't get to do it that often in golf, but I grew up in a family of team sports, and it's what I love. The experience I had in Whistling Straits, even though we got beaten quite heavily, was incredible and something I'll remember forever.

"So, like I said, I'm very excited for a home Ryder Cup, looking to create more memories. A lot of my big, big goals this year were getting to Rome and trying to win the Ryder Cup back, and everything over these next few weeks is going to be put into doing that, and hopefully, we can come out on top.”