BRITISH OPEN
FOLLOW THE JUG … ADD THE CLARET … By JO MAES European Golf & Travel Media Association hane Lowry was always destined for greatness. To be the leading amateur golfer in Ireland during the McIlroy years was no mean feat and the rosy cheeked and spectacled chubby local lad went on to win the Irish Open at Baltray, one of Ireland’s top links courses while still an amateur. With a reasonable professional career already underway, nobody could have predicted what was to come next. In 2019, the Open Championship returned to Royal Portrush on the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland, first time it was to be held outside of Scotland or England since 1951 when again Portrush saw Max Faulkner lift the Claret Jug. Lowry is used to the links conditions, feels the turf in his fingertips, sees the contours and is able to use them. He thrives on the local meadow grass. He can manufacture shots, left to right, right to left, high, low, bounce it … you name it. Portrush would also have been familiar from his Irish amateur days. The same could have been said for McIlroy who holds the course record until the changes to the course prior to the Open. McIlroy cracked under the expectations. Lowry revelled in it and came out on top. Portrush felt very Irish that final Sunday and that is no mean feat given the history of the area.
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SUMMER 2021
California Golf + Travel
PHOTO: THE R&A
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