Shane Lowry was in good form to secure a 25th-place finish at The Masters last week, but the Irishman has not always been on his best behaviour on the golf course in the past.
Speaking on Paddy Power’s From The Horse’s Mouth podcast, the 33-year-old recounted a humorous incident which saw our golf ambassador given a stern talking to by the authorities a couple of years ago at Palm Beach.
MORE FROM SHANE: I bottled taking the mickey out of Tiger Woods after Masters disaster
Lowry, who sprung to fame by winning the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, rattled a few cages when some colourful language was overheard on TV during the Honda Classic PGA event back in 2016 – with the incident earning him a stern talking to from golfing top brass.
“I was playing with Smylie Kaufman that day and NBC had just come live on air – we were the first two shots they had shown,” Lowry explained.
“Ach.. ye fookin’ idiot. FOOK!” No need to apologize, NBC, what Shane Lowry said was just fine pic.twitter.com/KaQjl9oCIC
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) February 28, 2016
“Smylie had hit a 7-iron into the water then snapped the club over his knee. I then hit my shot in the water and obviously let out a few comments, but we were both lying about 30th in the tournament!
“I know it’s something you shouldn’t be doing but why are they showing us on TV? Show the leaders! Show someone that is actually doing well.
“I remember the following week we were playing the World Golf Championship at Doral and I had to go and sit down with the big bosses and they showed me the clip.
“They’re like ‘what do you think of this?’ – It was honestly like I’d been brought into the principal’s office.
“I was like ‘yeah, it obviously wasn’t ideal but that’s kind of who I am. I wear my heart on my sleeve.’ I said ‘I can’t promise you anything – I will try to do better but I can’t promise anything.’
“I got a little fine and a bit of a slap on the wrist but because they get so many complaints about it – keyboard warriors love sitting at home complaining about stuff like that – they had to do something.
“But they don’t realise that you’re out there trying your hardest. You’re a sportsperson and you’re going to be p*ssed off. I’m never going to be delighted for hitting it in the water!”
A record-breaking hole from Tiger Woods… but not in a good way. ?
He racked up his highest score on any hole at #TheMasters with 10 on the par-three 12th! ?
Watch live only on Sky Sports #TheMasters or follow: https://t.co/isl86Zg1pI pic.twitter.com/83zoK2qsfg
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) November 15, 2020
There were no such outbursts from Lowry at Augusta last weekend, although his playing partner Tiger Woods may have been cursing under his breath after 10-shot septuple bogey during his final round.
Dustin Johnson claimed the coveted Green Jacket after finishing a record 20-under-par in Georgia, but our Paddy Power ambassador believes the American is unlikely to have experienced a victory party quite as good as Lowry’s celebrations following his 2019 Open win at Portrush.
When asked for his recollections of his Open triumph, where he beat Tommy Fleetwood by six strokes, Lowry said: “Honestly, I walked up the 18th and I just couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. That’s the only way I can sum it up.
MORE FROM SHANE: Bryson built himself up for Masters fall – Golf is not science, it’s about having the balls for it!
“I turned to my caddy Bo Martin, looked up at the leaderboard and said ‘I cannot believe that’s me at the top’. It’s surreal.
“I’m driven and passionate and want to do well in this sport, but no mater what I do for the rest of my life – that can never be taken away from me.
To win it in Ireland was just incredible. It was unreal.
“Dustin Johnson will have had a good night on Sunday but nowhere near the night I had after The Open. The few days we had as a group of friends was something you’d love to do again and again. It was unreal. It drives me to do something special again.
“The experience of that with friends and family was unbelievable. It’s incredible.
“I had said on Sunday morning that no matter what happens, we’re going home and back to to Dublin, My manager Conor Ridge asked me what I wanted to do, as they had a party arranged at Portrush, but I said I wanted to wake up in my own bed tomorrow.
“So we nipped down the road to Dublin and a friend of mine who owns a few bars organised a place, a party, got a band in and word obviously filtered around Dublin because it was fairly busy there!
“It obviously snowballed, and when you see what happened at Clara on Tuesday it was just incredible. If Clara ever win a county final there is always a bit fo a parade in town, as that is how things are celebrated in the GA community, and it was a bigger version of that.
“It was unreal, and the first time I really got emotional was pulling into Clara on the bus. I couldn’t believe it was all just for me.”
Read More:
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