Heckled during Ryder Cup, Shane Lowry has last laugh with Team Europe’s clincher

Shane Lowry just kept jumping, just kept running in circles, just kept pumping his fists and clenching his arms and roaring his way around the 18th green — looking at anyone who’d roar right back at him.

His 6-foot putt, with an entire grandstand full of American fans praying for a comeback and European fans begging for anything other than a historic collapse, had settled into the hole, securing the final half-point needed for Europe to retain the Ryder Cup.

And that moment turned Lowry, the No. 24 golfer in the world who became a villain Saturday and fielded taunts about his weight, into a Ryder Cup hero.

He’d won big tournaments before.

In 2019, he celebrated a British Open title in his home country of Ireland.

That, he said, was a “dream come true.”

But this is the Ryder Cup, the marquee stage of the golf calendar every two years and something Lowry won in 2023, too.

“The Ryder Cup, to me,” Lowry said before Europe earned its final two half-points in a 15-13 win, “is everything.”

Sunday afternoon, he said, contained the “hardest couple hours in my entire life.”

He teared up in an on-course interview.

He shared an emotional embrace with his father, Brendan.

He wrapped an Ireland flag around his neck during the trophy presentation and ended his weekend without a loss at 1-0-2.

But that wasn’t always guaranteed.

Russell Henley was 2-up with four to play Sunday.

Lowry entered the 18th still down a hole, and just as it appeared he’d caught a break when Henley’s tee shot sailed into a bunker, the American redirected his second shot onto the green anyway.

As he walked down 18, Lowry turned to his caddie, Darren Reynolds, and said, “I have a chance to do the coolest thing in my life here.” Henley proceeded to miss a birdie putt. And Lowry ensured that he converted his attempt.

“I mean, I’ve been so lucky to experience amazing things in this game,” Lowry said. “… I just can’t believe that putt went in.”

It was ironic, in a way, that Lowry had a chance to clinch the Ryder Cup and provide the final blow to American fans.

Tensions boiled over Saturday during his four-ball match with Rory McIlroy, and while McIlroy took the brunt of the heckles and taunts and slurs, Lowry also fielded some about his weight.

Extra security was added to his match — as well as the others in the afternoon — and extra messages about fan behavior appeared on video boards around the course, and those measures remained in place during singles matches.

Lowry got the last laugh. And at the next Ryder Cup, when it shifts to Adare Manor in Ireland and if he’s back on Europe’s roster for a fourth time, Lowry will be the hero.

“It’ll be a little bit nicer than playing here,” Lowry said. “I know that.”