Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry looking for Ryder Cup redemption in Rome

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McIlroy and Lowry had tough Ryder Cup outings in 2021.

Whistling Straits saw only Jon Rahm and, riding in Rahm’s slip-stream, Sergio Garcia emerge from the European side with much credit. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry played seven matches, between them, and only finished with two points.

Ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup, at Marco Simone Golf Club, golf writer Paddy Morgan had a look at McIlroy and Lowry’s respective roads to Rome.

Rory McIlroy started his Ryder Cup career when he played at Celtic Manor in 2010. His first Ryder Cup was successful for the hosts and he won one game. McIlroy played in his second Ryder Cup at Medinah in 2012.

As part of the miracle of Medinah the Northern Irishman played with Ian Poulter in their famous win to leave the score line 10-6 going into the singles. McIlroy nearly missed his tee time for his singles match but just about made it and won 2&1 against Keegan Bradley. McIlroy has played in four Ryder Cup’s since then in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2021.

2014 was a big year for McIlroy as he won The Open and PGA Championship. He showed some of this form as his highlight of the 2014 Ryder Cup was beating Rickie
Fowler 5&4 in the singles. McIlroy was paired with Thomas Pieters at 2016 Ryder Cup were they won three matches together. McIlroy went head to head with Patrick
Reed in a fantastic singles match which he unfortunately lost on the 18th hole.

In 2018, at Paris National, McIlroy only managed two out of five points. McIlroy has always struggled to find a partner for fourballs and foursomes at the Ryder Cup. He was partnered with Ian Poulter on multiple occasions. Sometimes it worked, like Medinah, and other times it failed especially when they were hammered in Whistling Straits.

Europe Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald will have to find another partner for Rory McIlroy with both Poulter and Sergio Garcia not playing in this year’s event. My opinion is that McIlroy will play with Viktor Hovland on Friday morning.

Shane Lowry pictured at PGA National Resort And Spa. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

‘Would be fitting if Shane Lowry or Rory McIlroy holed winning putt’

Shane Lowry’s career got off to a fantastic start in winning the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009. Lowry’s career has risen to win some of the biggest events throughout the world, especially when he won the WGC at Firestone in 2015.

The Offaly man announced himself on the world stage as he won The Open in 2019 at Royal Portrush. Lowry played in his first Ryder Cup in 2021 at Whistling Straits.

In the Ryder Cup, Lowry brought a lot of energy and was very passionate. Even though Europe were hammered 19-9 Lowry was one of the positives from Whistling Straits. Lowry has found it difficult to bring that Ryder Cup form into normal stroke-play tournaments this year.

After it was announced that Europe Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald picked Lowry this was the best thing to happen for the Offaly man as he went on to finish third in the Irish Open. He also played well at Wentworth until he had a nine at the 17th hole but still managed to finish inside the top 20 at the BMW PGA Championship.

Lowry has the mentality for match-play as he is a great scrapper and loves a challenge. Lowry’s strength is his chipping and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he gets a couple of chip ins at Marco Simone. Lowry’s putting has been the weak part of his game this year but the Ryder Cup could fix this as you can be more aggressive with your putts.

With Lowry being such great friends with Tommy Fleetwood my opinion is that they will play together on Friday morning. Ireland has great success as 12 Irish players have played in the Ryder Cup. Five Irish golfers have holed the winning putt at the Ryder Cup.

There have been three Ryder Cup captains from the island of Ireland which were Paul McGinley in 2014, Darren Clarke in 2016 and Padraig Harrington in 2021. It would be fitting if either Lowry or McIlroy were able to hole the winning putt for Europe this weekend at Marco Simone.