Lowry plays along with captain McGinley at Wentworth

The captain and the would-be foot soldier got on like a house on fire, not only in successfully plotting their way around the West Course here in the opening round of the BMW PGA Championship, but also in dissecting the season's Gaelic football championship.

For Shane Lowry, son of All-Ireland medal winning Brendan, and Paul McGinley, who once upon a time harboured ambitions to play for Dublin, this was a match made in heaven.

Not that Wen-chong Liang, the third member of the group, contributed much to the discussion. “We had a decent chat going around, mostly about Gaelic football, which is great. I don’t think Liang knew too much about that. I was asking him did he think Donegal were going to win the All-Ireland but he had no comment,” quipped Lowry.

No wonder Lowry could afford to be in upbeat mood, which contrasted with the murky weather. An opening round 70, two-under-par, left the Offalyman poised to challenge in the European Tour’s flagship event and provide another indicator he could yet play a role in McGinley’s masterplan to retain the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles next year.

"Shane played very well," observed McGinley, who wore two sweaters and a pair of mittens to offset the cold in shooting a 71. "He is like a number of (young players). I don't want to put pressure on them or expectations on them, (but) of course he is capable of playing (in the Ryder Cup).

Watching him closely
"There's another 40 guys (on tour) capable of stepping up to that level and I wish him the best of luck and I will be full of encouragement for him, as I will be for everybody else. Chances are, there will be rookies on the team and there's a bunch of guys ready to step up and Shane is one of those. I will be watching him very closely."

Lowry hadn’t played a competitive round with McGinley since the 2009 European Open at the London Club, where he made his professional debut after winning the Irish Open as an amateur. Since then, Lowry has evolved as a player – claiming a second tour title in last year’s Portuguese Masters – and again showed a liking for the Wentworth layout.

“Yeah, a decent start. I played nicely and can’t complain. I’d a number of silly bogeys but that’s always going to happen on this golf course. I love playing here. There’s no reason why I can’t go along nicely this week and have a chance come Sunday,” said Lowry, who faces a busy upcoming schedule.

Apart from contending here, he will also feature in 36-hole US Open qualifying at Walton Heath next Monday before flying out later that night to the Memorial tournament, for which he received an invitation from host Jack Nicklaus.

Of course, Lowry could save himself the task of having to pre-qualify for the US Open by winning here and securing an automatic spot in the field for Merion. It’s not beyond him.