Shane Lowry's granny: 'He loves his county and he loves Clara'

The grandmother of Ryder Cup hero Shane Lowry has spoken of the golfer's love for Offaly and his home town of Clara.

Emily Scanlon spoke to RTE News in the aftermath of Lowry's sensational putt which retained the trophy for Europe in a bitter battle with the United States.

She said she could not bear to look at the TV screen when the crucial moment came for her grandson on the 18^th green at Bethpage Black in New York.

“I just shut my eyes and then I heard the crowd road and said thanks be to God he putted it,” she said.

“I'm very proud, of course I am, very proud granny.”

She recalled when Shane was just a youngster heading out to play golf on the Esker Hills course: “It all started here, you know. I can still see him on the blue bike with the clubs tied to it. His granddad had tied the clubs when he was going on for Esker Hills.”

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Lowry went on to win the Irish Open as an amateur and the Open championship as a professional.

The golfer himself said the Ryder Cup triumph topped that 2019 triumph at Portrush but his granny pointed out that he has never forgotten where he came from and still relates all the local tales.

“He tells all these yarns as well, you know. He never forgot them, no.”

She added: “He's a very nice chap, a very lovable chap and he's very good to everyone. He loves the GAA and he loves his own county. He loves his own, and Clara, he loves it.

“Oh God, he'll get a great welcome when he comes back home. Oh God he will, especially when he comes to Clara.”