The Ryder Cup witnessed Shane Lowry's ability to raise his game and become one of the hardest players to beat on the green, RTÉ golf commentator Greg Allen has told Behind the Story.
The Offaly man holed the decisive putt to retain the Ryder Cup for Europe before the team went on to win the tournament outright by a 15-13 margin after holding off a dramatic fightback from the US at Bethpage Black.
He delivered the crucial half-point in match number eight, taking Europe to 14 points by holing a putt on the 18th to tie against Russell Henley.
Greg Allen said the win will see Lowry move into a new status.
"When he won The Open in 2019, it was the beginning of the Shane Lowry that we see now," he said.
"[Shane] brings his absolute best in terms of concentration focus to the big events probably more than the average player of his world ranking."
Mr Allen said while Mr Lowry is not a top 10 ranked player "when the big occasion comes, he has the ability to rise to being one of the hardest players to play against".
Player abuse
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy also made headlines for the verbal abuse he suffered on the course.
Mr Allen told Katie, David and Fran that insulting players has now become "expected" during the Ryder Cup.
"We were expecting New York to be an absolute cauldron of abuse for the European players," he said.
"One of the reasons the Ryder Cup is as compelling as it is because it induces this level of tribal support of one side against another.
"Golf is largely self-policing… but because it’s a self-refereeing sport it has a lot of respect, it has a huge amount of etiquette.
"It’s more stark when you get behaviour like this directed towards players because it feels unique in that regard."
Mr Allen said abuse directed towards players "has been going on for more than 30 years".
"We’re trying to find where the line is between why the Ryder Cup rises above golf and becomes a sport that compels people to watch it who aren’t even interested in golf: and to some degree that is the tribal nature of it – that fact that it’s one team against another."
Read more: Lowry holes crucial putt as Europe win Ryder Cup
Mr Allen said little was done to prevent the abuse.
"Rory suffered incredibly personal, serious abuse which - there is a code of conduct which there were signs flashing up about unacceptable abuse will not be tolerated – but of course it was tolerated," he explained.
"A few fans were taken out, but it was window dressing.
"I asked him for Morning Ireland this morning, 'How have you dealt with it?’ and he felt protected within the group of the European team.
"I think that’s very significant because it’s the difference between the European and the United States team: Europe are really a team.
"Shane Lowry on Saturday was like Rory’s big brother, and it was just wonderful to see."
Katie, Fran and David also discuss Ireland’s other weekend sporting successes – as Dublin hosted the first official NFL regular season game in Ireland.
You can listen to Behind the Story which is available on the RTÉ Radio Player.
You can also find episodes on Apple here, or on Spotify here.
