EUROPEAN TOUR:Shane Lowry is smiling telling the story of how Irish flanker Seán O'Brien broke the head off Ireland rugby manager Mick Kearney's driver trying to whack a golf ball in the air like a hurl.
The golfer and the rugby players both have their own anxieties this week but share the same sports psychologist in Enda McNulty, the former All-Ireland winning Armagh footballer. Where O'Brien and the rest of the Irish squad look to the game against England on Sunday for an outbreak of nerves, the two times European Tour winner, Lowry, must sweat until Monday to see if his season can kick start with a place in the WGC Accenture Matchplay event on Dove Mountain, Arizona at the end of this month. With a prize fund of $8,750,000 and 500 FedexCup ranking points, it's one of the non-major Majors.
Automatic entry
Currently ranked 64th, Lowry is not competing this week and must hope his position can hold to secure an invitation to the US event, where the top 64 tee off. The Masters in April is another of his short term goals where the top 50 players in the world gain automatic entry.
"They (Irish rugby players) were down in the Academy once, yeah, so we had a bit of a laugh. I'm going out with them this afternoon," said Lowry.
"I do this trick where I flick it up and hit it like a hurl, so SeáO'Brien being from Carlow, he's not much good at that! He broke Mick Kearney's driver."
The more serious affair of his career and world ranking as well as this year's Irish Open on his home turf at Carton House has consumed his thinking in recent weeks, perhaps too much. Lowry concedes that after a top ten finish at the beginning of January followed by two missed cuts, the issue of his position and the narrow margins that decide on his inclusion in the World Championship events has affected his primary focus on playing.
"I'm not going to lie to you, I think it has, and it has done in the past as well . . . putting a lot of pressure on myself . . ." he says. "So trying too hard not to miss cuts, that's what I did. It's looking like I'm probably just going to miss out on the Match Play. Or maybe I might scrape in and if I do scrape in I'm going to get quite an exciting draw . . ."
If he holds his ranking and earns a plane ticket to Arizona the reward is either magical or despairing, depending on what way the 25-year-old chooses to see it - a first round meeting with either Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy. Lowry has only ever played with McIlroy before and never against him and the last Matchplay event he can remember playing in was as an amateur in the final of the West of Ireland in 2009.
"Nothing to lose"
"If I'm playing in the tournament I'm going to be against either Rory or Tiger so I'm going to have to make plenty of birdies and I've nothing to lose playing against them," he says.
"Matchplay's just one of those things, you've just got to out and make as many birdies as you can. Listen, you speak to Graeme (Mc Dowell), I think he was six or seven under in the first round last year and was home in Orlando by four o'clock on the Wednesday evening. I mean, everyone wants to play against those two lads (McIlroy, Woods). If I do it will be a good experience."
For now patience is Lowry's ally. But bridging the gap between tour player and contender for world titles takes ambition too. There is no shortage of that in the Offaly man. While he captures the heart of every hacker in the room by proclaiming he's an uncomplicated "hit the ball and find it and hit it again" type player, there are peaks to conquer.
"I think Europe is begging for someone to take over the European Tour like Monty dominated for years and I think that could be a good goal down the line for someone of my age," he says.
"To play under Paul in Gleneagles would be something very special. To play Ryder cup would be special. Come August when the qualifying starts that's definitely going to be one of my goals for the year to follow."
Ireland against England at Lansdowne Road - he somehow got a ticket - is Sunday's activity. A weekend of possible tipping points for both codes.
