Offaly native Shane Lowry has made no effort to hide his desire to make Team Europe for the 2023 Ryder Cup less than a week on from his debut at the tournament.
Lowry was part of the side that were easily defeated 19-9 by an impressive USA team across the weekend at Whistling Straits Golf Club in Wisconsin.
Despite the disappointing outcome, 2019 Open winner Lowry has targeted a place in the team for the event in Italy two years from now.
“I’m just so disappointed for Paddy to be honest,” Lowry said ahead of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. “I don’t think he deserves the beating we got last week.
“It’s hard because he’s a very good friend, and that’s what I’m most disappointed about last week is we didn’t perform as a team for him.
“But as regards the week itself, I couldn’t have envisaged what it would be like for me. It was amazing. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and it’s the only thing I want to do for the next two years.
“I don’t care what I do for the next two years now as long as I’m back in Rome to try to take the trophy back off them.”
Lowry also had plenty to say about the reception that the European team received by a boisterous U.S. crowd as the delayed tournament was won by Steve Stricker’s side for the first time since 2016.
“I didn’t think it was that bad until I asked my wife what it was like for her, and they got dog’s abuse going around as well,” Lowry said. “It’s not very nice for them to have to listen to it, but that’s a small percentage of the crowd.
“I finished my match on 16 on Sunday and I was walking back down to follow the other groups and I got a huge ovation off the crowd and in the grandstand on 16, that was pretty cool. And I thought I got on well with the crowd last week as best I could.
“They are obviously a home crowd and they are going to be a partisan crowd. Some of the stuff is not very nice. But look, that’s just the way it is. Some people are idiots, especially when they drink.
“Nobody turns into a genius with drinking, and that’s what they were doing last week. Especially if you were out in the afternoon matches, it was loud.
“As a team it was hard for us to perform our best because you stand up and you hit a three-iron into 10 feet from 250 yards and you don’t even get a ripple of applause. You almost get booed for it.
“But I tried to take it as best I could. I think I performed OK. I don’t think it’s going to be like that in Rome. We will obviously have the home support, but we’ll be hopefully winning a bit of a different way.”