The Open and The Irish
“When I’m nervous I often like to talk about it,” Shane Lowry spoke Saturday night from Royal Portrush Golf Club, holding onto the lead at The Open, ”…to get it out there, so it doesn’t fester inside…Tonight I will go to bed with visions of the Claret Jug.” It’s disingenuous to say that’s the first night he went to bed with dreams of the Claret Jug in his hands. To see his name engraved into history. In the company of sports’ best for the epic title of Champion Golfer Of The Year.
Shane grew up playing golf on a quaint course in the midlands of Ireland, just a few hours’ drive South from Royal Portrush. From there, the ruins of Dunluce Castle and the White Cliffs of Portrush in Northern Ireland seemed as distant as fairy tale. Distant only, perhaps, if you don’t believe in fairy tales. Perhaps Y.B. Yeats could only imagine the tale of Shane Lowry and Royal Portrush. Perhaps it was only the man himself, the current Champion Golfer Of The Year, who could imagine it.
His golf game being in good shape as of recently, but his belief had waivered like the sun amidst the mercurial weather of Ireland. Shane had a meeting before The Open with his coach at The Bushmills Inn. Where what was discussed over coffee will never be known but may be recreated by those seeking inspiration. Here is where Lowry found his belief again. Belief in himself to be his best self. His true self. Where his game and smile beams like the sun through a playful Irish rain. What will be hard to recreate is going to the Bushmills Inn for just coffee.
The tale of Shane Lowry and Royal Portrush began over a decade ago, where he won an amateur event there, years before it was even in consideration for selection into The Open Rota. In 2009, the legend grew when he won the Irish Open as an amateur. A dream come true and one of the greatest Irish golfing victories at the time. The win was monumental in that Shane won one of the premier events on the professional European Tour as an amateur. And an even better story considering his mom made more money than he did by wagering on him at 250-1 odds. As an amateur, you can’t collect paychecks. But you can collect wins and build belief.
Over the years as a professional, his skill and smile flashed rays of brilliance a few times with big wins on the PGA and European Tours. But his standing in the world rankings rose and fell continuously as he struggled to gain permanence in his performances. Golf is a very fickle creature, almost as fickle as the weather on the Emerald Isle. Every Irish golfer is deeply aware of this characteristic of the game that stole their hearts.
The golfers that are born and raised in close proximity to the birthplace of the game know this capricious nature better than anyone. You cannot control a lot of things in golf, as in life, but you can control your attitude and beliefs for every round and every shot you stand over. And when your self-belief starts to waiver, in life and in golf, then those closest to you can be there to blow wind into your sails and get you believing again. On the island of Ireland and surrounding territories, there are those who still firmly believe, and better yet, know of the power and interconnected worlds of the Faye, fairy, and our own. It is said that those who believe will be able to see their world and work in conjunction with it. Gaining an advantage in all things where a little elemental assistance and, dare I say, luck is needed. Those who do not believe will never see the Faye. I think much of this same attitude is true regarding own dreams and living the best lives we can.
Before the now infamous Bushmills Inn coffee-talk with his coach, Shane made an addition to his professional team to help with on-course self-belief and performance. In September of 2018, Lowry changed his caddie to Northern Irishman Bo Martin, whom he credits as a huge calming influence on his game. The pair has had a good run of success, earning over $1.1 Million Euro in their time together. That’s not including their latest life-changing win, which will push that figure closer to $3M Euro. That will buy heaps of black stuff at the celebration party.
On the island of Ireland, golf and rugby are played under one flag: the Irish flag. The Irish love their sports as much as anything else in life but are not united on all sporting fronts. The division in Irish sports not named rugby and golf mirrors the division that has ravaged the island for the last three centuries, culminating in the bloody almost-civil-war of ‘The Troubles’ in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The divisiveness had gotten it a bad reputation abroad as the cartoonish moniker of ‘Fighting Irish’ seemed to strengthen over that time. (Note: individually they do like to squabble, just let it be and they’ll be friends again soon).
However, a peace has formed on the whole the Isle for some years now. A peace that grows stronger with each passing year where The Troubles are put further and further in the rearview. A belief in the future guides them forward now, but politics still has a way of finding division. If sports mirrors life, then it can be said that life can mirror sports as well. Especially if it’s for ideals we want to believe in and make reality. Belief is the progenitor of creation. The seed of manifestation. Sports and athletic outcomes can transcend themselves to impact other areas of society as well simply because of the mirror effect of sports on society and vice versa. The web of life and sports are woven into the fabric of humanity together. And they reverberate with each other when plucked to the same tune. It’ll be up to the people to decide if they are ready to believe in a united island. It will take time, no doubt, and the looming Brexit boondoggle seems like a good impetus towards action, if only politics weren’t in the way.
There was no divisiveness among the Irish in the stands at Royal Portrush as one of their own, one of their kin. Another from The Isle just like them displayed all the heart, talent, calmness, conviction, and guts it takes to win on their native soil. As chaotic the tempestuous weather was that surrounded Portrush for The Open on Sunday, a different kind of chaos surrounds the socio-economic future of The Republic and The North.
The sun did not show itself on Sunday, but what did shine was the feeling of unity and coming together for the things we all have in common like friends, family, getting rained on, and golf.
With the gales humming, the heather rough dancing, and the light rains of the Emerald Isle beginning to show again, Lowry and his caddie Bo Martin walked down the 18th fairway Sunday embraced around each other. An Irishman from The Republic and an Irishman from The North. The elementals from the Isle delivering good fortune for both men, as fairies, elements, and golf know no borders, only belief. Finn McCool didn’t show up today, but another Irish legend did. One whose tales will be told to generations of lads and lasses. The legend of Shane Lowry and Royal Portrush.