Open Champion Shane Lowry insists all the home gym equipment in the world won’t see him emerging from self-isolation sporting a rig like world number one Rory McIlroy.
The Clara golfer finds himself bunkering down amid the coronavirus pandemic from his Florida abode and although he admits to investing in some fitness equipment over the past few weeks, he’s tempering expectations that he’s about to undergo some class of operation transformation.
“I’ve got a little gym in the garage and it gets an hour or two out of my day,” he told Sky Sports.
“But I definitely won’t be coming out of the far side of this looking like Rory McIlroy.
“I’ll still be me – we still get our groceries dropped to the door!”
Like the rest of us, Lowry finds himself on lockdown dreaming of a time when handshakes are the norm, pints are drunk and sport is played but he foresees a particularly tough transition period before golf is back up and running as we all know it.
“The only issue I see with golf is that we all live in different countries,” Lowry said.
“I think that’s the big issue. When you look at the Premier League, they all live in England.
“So, when England is ready to open up again you can start back the Premier League.
“That’s where golf I think, differs. It will be interesting to see what restrictions are in place when we get playing.
“I’d just be fearful that players might not get visas if they’re from certain countries. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Exactly where golf’s decimated schedule leaves Lowry in his main pursuit this year – that of becoming a member of Padraig Harrington’s European Ryder Cup team – remains to be seen.
In all-likelihood, the fate of the biennial match set for Whistling Straits in September may well see it pushed back a year given how the disrupted qualifying process is sure to impact the merits of the make-up of each team.
Lowry had been trying his best to keep the irons hot Stateside but has since seen his patch of practice at a local club closed off to the public as measures ramp up in the USA to stop the spread of the virus – the US contraction count ranks higher than any other country.
“I was playing up until then with one of my friends, just the two of us in a two-ball in two different golf carts every day.
“We’d play 18 holes and I never thought golf would be my getaway. I was just going out for a fun round to enjoy it.
“It was disappointing when the golf course was closed down, but it was kind of necessary.
“I watch the Irish news every day, I’m on my phone and keeping up to date with the whole thing. It’s not quite as bad here, but we don’t basically go outside the house.”
Who knew we’d be following in the footsteps of an Open champion this year after all?
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