Despite writing for an invitation into this week’s second Signature Event on the PGA Tour at the Genesis Invitational, Shane Lowry was also writing to Jon Rahm ahead of the Spaniard’s move to LIV Golf.
Rahm confirmed in the European Ryder Cup team’s WhatsApp group in December that the rumours linking him to LIV were true and Lowry implored the two-time major winner to leave in a graceful manner and not “s**t on tours like some people did.”
“Rumours were big at the time and we were all talking about it individually,” Lowry told the Fore Play podcast. “And then Jon put a message into the group telling us. Some guys are like, whatever, and I was like, that’s your choice. Just don’t go there and s**t on the tours like some people did.
“Go there, and go gracefully, and do what you have to do. And Tyrrell (Hatton) the same.
“I think what Jon said about growing the game and stuff that’s obviously what they have to say. They’ve signed on the dotted line. They’ve been told by the communications team that this is what you say when you’re asked this and you have no other choice really because they own you now.”
While Lowry’s invitation into this week’s event in Riviera went without recognition he hopes to earn an invite to the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Bay Hill to try and use it as a gateway into the other Signature Events as he bids to pick up his form ahead of the Masters in April.
“I should have played better last year,” admitted Lowry who blames nobody else for a fallow 2023.
The Offaly man was one of Luke Donald’s wildcard picks for the Ryder Cup in Rome last September where he played the role of a bouncer after “cap gate” ensued on Saturday night.
Rory McIlroy and Joe LaCava clashed on the 18th green and the angry scenes spilled out into the car park where McIlroy launched an outburst at the American camp.
Lowry had to restrain his teammate and help bundle him into a car. It made for box office viewing and he feels it spurred Europe on to win on Sunday.
Lowry said: “To be honest, I think if anything it helped us.
“It fired us up because from the position we were, in it would’ve been easy to be a little bit complacent going in to the Sunday.
“It made us just realise how much we wanted to win and I think we went into the locker room that Saturday evening and we were fired up.
“I remember then when we were out, Rory and I decided to get a car back together and then the first person he sees was ‘Bones’ (laughs).
“Yeah he said a few things to ‘Bones’ and we got in the car and were on the way back.
“I’m kind of on my phone and we’re about 15 minutes into the journey and I said to Rory ‘oh my God, there were cameras outside the clubhouse’.
“We’re looking at the video and to be honest, Rory’s wife Erica did an unbelievable job on the way back – trying to calm him down.
“He was very fired up. Then we get back to the hotel and the first person he sees is Ricky Elliott, who caddies for Brooks (Koepka).
“Then he has a go at Ricky and I’m like ‘Rory will you just get into the team room man, come on’…
“Probably, if anything, it made it exciting and made it a story going into Sunday.”
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