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Shane Lowry admits he was not best pleased to hear criticism of his Ryder Cup wild card after taking the chance to \u201cshut a few people up\u201d with his performance in the Irish Open.<\/p>\n
Lowry received one of captain Luke Donald\u2019s six picks having finished 11th on the European points list and eighth on the world points list, with only the top three on each qualifying automatically.<\/p>\n
The former Open champion won the first qualifying event \u2013 and will defend his BMW PGA Championship title this week \u2013 but his sole top-10 finish in 2023 prior to The K Club came in February\u2019s Honda Classic.<\/p>\n
That led to criticism of Lowry\u2019s selection, with former British Masterswinner Richard Bland among those believing that Adrian Meronk\u2019s consistent form \u2013 including May\u2019s Italian Open victory at the Ryder Cup venue \u2013 meant the Pole \u201cdeserves a pick over an out-of-form Lowry\u201d.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI know there was a little bit about that last week and\u2026. I need to be careful here,\u201d Lowry said in his pre-tournament press conference at Wentworth.<\/p>\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t sit very well with me to be honest. I feel like, yes, my results have not been amazing this year, but I feel if you purely go down to statistics and go down the 12 best players in Europe, I\u2019m one of them. And I feel like I deserve my place on the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t feel like I had to go out and prove anything to anyone last week. The Irish Open is a huge tournament for me and a tournament I wanted to play well in.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it shut a few people up, so be it, but I wasn\u2019t trying to do that last week. I wasn\u2019t trying to finish third last week, I was trying to win the tournament. So last week was disappointing for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis week is the same. I\u2019m trying to win the tournament here this week.\u00a0 I know I deserve to be on that team and I know I\u2019ll be good in Rome in a couple weeks and I\u2019m very excited for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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All 12 of Europe\u2019s team are competing at Wentworth after a flying visit to Marco Simone Golf and Country Club on Monday, where the thickness of the rough has proved a major topic of conversation.<\/p>\n
Numerous balls were reportedly lost during the practice round and Lowry joked: \u201cI only lost one so I was pretty happy with myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur group (Robert MacIntyre, Sepp Straka and Justin Rose) was actually pretty good, we didn\u2019t lose that many, but one group had a bad day losing a few.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty brutal in spots but just off the fairways is no different to what you might see at the US Open or something like that. If you go a decent bit off the fairways that\u2019s going to get very interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if players thought the rough might need to be cut back, Lowry added: \u201cNo. If you hit a good drive down the fairway and hit a good second shot you\u2019re on the green, that\u2019s what golf\u2019s about. That\u2019s how I see it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the way the course is set up, Scottie Scheffler is number one tee-to-green in the world. So it should suit him. They have got some of the best players in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we also have some of the best players in the world and I honestly think that it all comes down to who gets off to a fast start and who holes the most putts. That\u2019s what Ryder Cups are about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Europe will certainly hope home advantage plays its part as seven of the last eight Ryder Cups have been won by the home side, with 2012\u2019s \u2018Miracle at Medinah\u2019 the lone exception.<\/p>\n
The United States stormed to a record 19-9 victory at Whistling Straits two years ago, but Lowry is confident a new generation of European players will prove a different proposition in Rome.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at their team, Scottie Scheffler was the worst player and he was 21st in the world, and he was world number one about five months later. That\u2019s kind of what we are up against,\u201d Lowry said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI feel like this is almost like maybe the next generation for European golf and I think that\u2019s very exciting to see guys like Nicolai (Hojgaard) and Ludvig (Aberg) on the team and Viktor (Hovland).<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at Vincent Norrman winning last week, he\u2019s probably going to be on future European Ryder Cup teams. I think European golf is better than what people have been talking about over the last couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n