Back in 2005, when he was more known as Brendan Lowry's young lad, an 18-year-old Shane Lowry took part in a Q&A with Offaly local paper the Midland Tribune.
One of the quickfire questions probed him for his favourite format of competition - "straight forward strokeplay," came the response.
We don’t know what Lowry would say if asked the same question two decades on, but ahead of his third Ryder Cup in New York over the coming days, you would have to assume that matchplay – more specifically team matchplay – would be pushing hard to be a contender.
That 2005 season was Lowry’s last playing Gaelic games with Clara, a four-time a week golf practice schedule plus competition commitments meaning a choice had to be made, and his trophy cabinet since suggests that it was the right one.
Still though, it’s hard not to imagine a young Lowry being reared on stories of his Da and uncles Seán and Mick and their successes on the football field and that famed 1982 All-Ireland final win over Kerry and, later, Seán’s time with Mayo. Stories of the triumphs, but also the camaraderie off the pitch, the steel forged in fire in different dressing rooms over the years.
Three-time US Open champion Hale Irwin once described golf as the loneliest sport and for some professionals that’s the perfect environment, but how Lowry could have done with a team-mate beside him when disqualified from his first senior amateur championship – the West of Ireland – after signing for the wrong score, the realisation dawning when reporters asked afterwards about his eagle at the fifth with the 19-year-old responding "what eagle?".
Four weeks later he was disqualified again for forgetting to sign his scorecard in the Irish Amateur Open at Portmarnock.
Shoulders to cry on would have been provided afterwards, but when those DQs were made official, he was the only player on his team in the trenches of a one-man sport. It doesn’t get much lonelier than that.
Those blows were offset by a wonderful amateur career and even at that young age, it was clear that the team scene suited Lowry.
He is in a small group of Irish golfers to have won two European Amateur Team Championships alongside Joe Carr, Tom Craddock, Vincent Nevin, David Sheahan (1965, '67), Garth McGimspey (1983, ‘87) Jonathan Caldwell and Gareth Shaw (2007, ‘08).
Lowry, playing with Richard Kilpatrick, was 1-1-0 in 2007 while he was 2-1-0 with Shaw the following year, a Chris Wood – a top-10 finisher in Lowry's famous 2009 Irish Open win - inspired England pipping them in the final with Ireland still comfortably winning.
Lowry was a shoo-in for the Walker Cup in 2009, but opted to turn pro on the back of that Baltray success. That may have been strokeplay, but the scenes at the end when the green was invaded by a boisterous home crowd – and soaked onlooker Rory McIlroy – was more reminiscent of Croke Park in ‘82 than what we have become used to on the greens of the DP World Tour.
Those experiences sculpted the player though and it’s no surprise that his complete commitment to the rare golfing team aspect has made him such a prized asset for Europe with Luke Donald citing his "infectious energy".
"He understands team above everything else, more than most of the guys, and it's just really great to have his energy and his vibe in the team room," said the visiting captain ahead of their New York adventure.
Surprisingly, Lowry’s individual matchplay record as a professional is less than impressive and sits at 9-20-3 – a win rate of about one in four.
Team matchplay is different though with the Esker Hills golfer sitting at 4-2-0, a huge jump in his win rate.
Included in that were two points alongside Andy Sullivan in the 2016 EurAsia Cup, a fourball win with Tyrrell Hatton at the 2021 Ryder Cup and a foursome success with Sepp Straka in the 2023 Ryder Cup.
That victory with Hatton four years ago was a rare bright spot for the visitors as they were trounced 19-9, with Lowry's putter catching fire at Whistling Straits for his first Ryder Cup point, the Offaly man firing the club down and celebrating wildly when sinking the winning putt on the last.
Then there’s the foursomes-fourballs performances of Lowry and McIlroy in New Orleans over the last two seasons. Although the Zurich Classic is not direct matchplay, the team game saw them win in 2024 and treat the crowd to a beer-induced rendition of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’' while only an off-colour final round prevented them from challenging to retain 12 months later.
Lowry, often cutting a frustrated figure on Tour when things aren't going to plan, always has an extra spring in his step when playing with company.
Back in 2006, when rules officials had to disqualify Lowry twice in a matter of weeks, how he could have done with a team-mate. Now he is that team-mate.
As Team Europe prepares to enter the bear pit of New York and Bethpage Black, Lowry will be expected to be an unofficial captain given how readily he has taken to the task.
When McIlroy famously clashed with Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava two years ago, it was Lowry who stood up for his mate both on the green and by getting him out of harm’s way in the carpark after as the row rumbled on. Later, McIlroy would reveal that an inspirational speech to the team from Lowry had everyone pumped with Donald’s side storming to a five-point win in Rome on the Sunday.
"I think it’s inevitable something is going to happen in New York," McIlroy has said in the build-up to this week’s competition and given his history in the event, including the slugfest with Patrick Reed in 2016 Hazeltine and the fact that LaCava, still on Cantlay’s bag, is Big Apple born and bred, Lowry may need to stay close to his fellow countryman more than any other player.
It's a task he's up to. Expect Team Lowry to show up at Bethpage - in the dressing room and on the course.
