Even from India, Shane Lowry can't resist final dig at USA Ryder Cup crowd
The Irishman took the opening-round lead at the first DP World India Championship playing alongside fellow Europe stars, and couldn't help have a pop at the Ryder Cup's controversial New York crowd
Shane Lowry claimed the noise of the Delhi traffic was less “off-putting” than the New York crowd as he took his Ryder Cup form to the top of the leaderboard in India. The Irishman secured the crucial half point on the final green to retain the trophy after a weekend of abuse on Long Island last month.
Across the planet in Asia, the incessant din came from noise of the honks and horns of the Delhi traffic at the at the DP World India Championship. But playing with European captain Luke Donald and Tommy Fleetwood, the world No.25 nailed five successive birdies on the back nine for an opening 64 and a one-shot lead.
“When I saw the draw, I was really happy,” said Lowry. “Being with the lads, we've had some good things happen the last few weeks. We all had a great time and we all played pretty good. I just rolled off a few more birdies than they did on the back nine.
“There was a little bit of Ryder Cup reminiscing. We could hear the horns from the road. It was not as off-putting as the Bethpage crowd.
"There was a little Ryder Cup chat out there but at the end of the day we are all professional golfers and we want to shoot the best scores we can. Ultimately we all want to beat each other, too, even though we are friends.”
Lowry, who made eight birdies in his bogey-free round, said he enjoyed the challenge of the tight 6,912 yard course at the Delhi Golf Club. “I feel like this type of golf course suits me,” said the 2019 Open champion.
“I spend half the year moaning about golf courses that are too wide, so when I get to somewhere like here, I need to take advantage of that, and I did that today and hopefully I can keep doing that for the rest of the week.”
Fellow Irishman Rory McIlroy found the track more challenging as he did not use his driver in his three-under 69 which included six birdies and three bogeys.
“It's pretty tricky,” said the Masters champion. “Dog (his driver) was out of the bag, probably asleep in the locker. I just don't see any hole out there that I hit to hit it more than say 260, 270 off the tee.
"I was thinking about it last night before I went to bed. If you're really conservative off a par-5 today, you might have like a 5-wood into the green, but I'm never going to hit driver, so I just thought I've got to 2-iron, 3-iron, 4-iron all the way through.
"Then I've got a 5-wood just in case I need to hit it for an approach shot on a par-5.”