“All the great Irish golfers have all had a big part to play in the Ryder Cup and I hope to maybe add to that this week” - Lowry ready to join the immortals

Shane Lowry of Team Europe sits for a media interview during the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park on Thursday, September 25, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Michael Reaves/PGA of America)

Shane Lowry might be the life and soul of the European team room but he’s on a mission at Bethpage Black to join the legends of Irish golf who’ve played a massive part in Ryder Cup history.

While Rory McIlroy will lead from the front, Lowry knows he has a role to play too and that means putting points on the board as Europe bids to become the first team to win an away Ryder Cup since 2012.

“When we're sitting over there in the team room and back in the hotel, I think I bring good energy, good vibes, a sense of lightheartedness to the team,” Lowry said.

“Honestly, the last two weeks, I've never laughed so much in my whole life. We've just had a great time. We've enjoyed getting ready together, preparing together, and I think I kind of bring some of that to everyone.

"But obviously that's no good to anyone if I don't play well and win points. There's no point being good fun if you don't perform.”

Lowry knows how it feels to lose away from home, having made his debut in that record 19-9 thrashing at Whistling Straits in 2021.

He knows Europe has a mountain to climb if they’re to win in New York but he also has a deep desire to join the Irish legends who’ve etched their name in Ryder Cup history.

“We've been watching all the videos in the team room this week of, Oak Hill and Philip Walton and Christy Jr and McGinley at the Belfry and Eamonn Darcy as well,” Lowry said.  “All the great Irish golfers have all had a big part to play in the Ryder Cup and I hope to maybe add to that this week.”

When the USA won so convincingly in Wisconsin four years ago, there were predictions of 20 years of American dominance.

But after winning by five points in Rome two years ago, Lowry believes Europe has a gilt-edged opportunity to make history this week.

“I think had told somebody on the Sunday evening in Whistling Straits that we would have won in Rome and we'd be coming here to Bethpage with a chance to win, I think they probably would have laughed at you,” he said.

“So to be a part of a team that’s coming here with a chance to do something really big, I think that's a huge carrot dangling for us.  “I think we've got a great opportunity this week. Its going be very, very hard, but I think we're ready for it, and we'll give our best shot.”

Europe has made a conscious effort to avoid the mistakes of past away matches and McIlroy knows he has to strike a balance between confronting the American fans and isolating too much.

“Winning another away Ryder Cup, just considering how hard that has been over the past 12 years, it would be one of the greatest accomplishments of my career for sure,” McIlroy said.

While he tried to avoid falling into the trap of feeding the narrative of a possible grudge match with Bryson DeChambeau, who’s vowed to “chirp” in his ear if they face off, he said he’d be ready to face anyone.

“All I want to do is go and try and put blue points on the board,” he said. “I don't care who it's against. If I come up against Bryson at some point, I think that's great. I think that's wonderful for the championship and wonderful for us, as well, in some ways.

“I just want to go out there and put blue points on the board and do what I can for the European Team.”
Staying on an even keel is going to be key for the Masters champion, who expended huge energy revving up the crowd when he faced Patrick Reed in the singles at Hazeltine in 2016 but didn’t make a birdie coming home and ended up losing 1 up.

“I'm very lucky, I get a lot of support pretty much everywhere I go when I play golf, and it's going to feel a little different for me this week,” said McIlroy, who ended up in tears at Whistling Straits when he was out of form and won just one point from four matches.

“But that's to be expected, and that's totally understandable. I feel at times in the Ryder Cup, I have engaged too much with that, too much with the crowd.  “But then there are times when I haven't engaged enough. So it's really just trying to find the balance of using that energy from the crowd to fuel your performance.

“I felt like at Hazeltine, I probably engaged too much at times, and then at Whistling Straits, I didn't engage enough and felt pretty flat because of it. It's just trying to find that balance.”