Shane Lowry took the question on board, began to chuckle and then immediately made the universal gesture to signify a change of direction.
‘Yes I’ve seen it,’ Lowry replied with a wry smile. ‘I’m happy I have to drive the other way. I’m staying at the opposite end of town, so I don’t have to drive past it every day.’ Taking that answer on face value, you would think ‘it’ was some blot on this glorious costal landscape when ‘it’, actually, is something quite magnificent – a striking mural at the gable end of a house on Causeway Street, close to the course.
There is Lowry, beaming, with The Claret Jug in his hand, the defining image from July 21, 2019. That was the day he conquered Royal Portrush, the day life changed; he obliterated his field by six shots and left the island of Ireland exultant, with his social media channels jamming with well wishes.
A mural in his honour, then, has to be regarded as the ultimate recognition. Initially, as we spoke, the self-effacing Lowry didn’t consider the connotations of what his victory meant – and continues to mean – but, eventually, he spoke about the enormity and the smile was as big as the one on the wall.
‘It was an amazing day for the country and me and my family and everyone around me,’ said Lowry. ‘I don’t think it changed me much as a person. I didn’t sit back and scroll through all the tweets or, when my mural was put on the wall, I didn’t think I’ve immortalised myself.
‘Honestly, I’m just myself. I just happen to be okay at golf and lucky enough that I got to achieve some pretty cool things. Honestly, that’s how I feel about it. But, yes, the mural is very special. I remember when they asked us about this. I didn’t know what to make of it at the start.
‘Then they completed it… Everyone that comes up here sends me pictures of them standing beside it! Some of them I can’t say what they were doing! But it is very special. I’ve done something special in my life. They’ve acknowledged that here and I think that’s very cool. It is cool, yeah.’
It really is. Some would have you believe Lowry is more interested in having a good time rather than excelling at his profession – he really wasn’t happy how the first question of his media briefing was about his celebrations six years ago rather than golf – but nothing could be further from the truth.
Lowry is the kind of man who will come alive during golf’s most important week of the season and, had it not been for dreadful conditions on day three at Royal Troon, he could easily have lined up as the defending champion: it broke his heart that he couldn’t overhaul Xande Schauffele last year.
Might compensation be on its way? The 38-year-old has spent much of the last fortnight limbering up on courses he knows well, from Adare Manor to Baltray and Portmarnock, and being ‘home’ for the first time in 2025 has done him the world of good.
There have been a couple of hiccups in recent months – not least missing the cut at The US Open – but he hopes and feels change is coming. He is never better than when a fire is burning inside and if you see him chuntering and muttering on the fairways before Thursday take that as a positive.
‘Sometimes when everything is going really well, I get complacent,’ he explained. ‘I feel like when things are not going well that is when I’m at my best, like going back to 2019 here – I had a meltdown on the Wednesday because I thought I wasn’t going to go out and play well.
‘But then that focuses me in a little bit more. If I can keep my complacency away and my expectation down, that’s when I’m at my best. How am I feeling? I’ve had a great week of practice, so that’s not great! I just need to play **** for the next couple of days and I’ll be all right!’
With that, there was uproarious laughter and another flash of the smile that now adorns Causeway Street. He’s desperate to feel that way again come Sunday evening.
