Any mention of the Ryder Cup was kept to a minimum as Shane Lowry, who got a wild card pick from his captain, and Brooks Koepka, who didn’t get one from his, navigated their way around the Palmer North course at the K Club, their interactions those of old friends forged from living in the same golfing community in Jupiter, Florida.
Some day, perhaps, Martin Couvra, the third member of the three-ball, would find himself more involved in the joking and wisecracks that worked their way from the Irishman to the American and back again, with their two Irish caddies, Darren Reynolds and Ricky Elliott, not short of words.
Lowry and Koepka are Major champions and Couvra – a 22-year-old who secured his breakthrough win on the DP World Tour back in May when claiming the Turkish Airlines Open – no doubt aspires to such a status down the line. Yet, here, the slim Frenchman was on the margins looking in.
The connection between Lowry and Koepka was clear and obvious but, even between friends, some things are left only partly said or not at all. The Ryder Cup was hardly on the agenda, and there was no political discussion of the rights and wrongs of LIV, where Koepka predominantly plays these days.
RM Block
“Look, I get on great with Brooks. I always have done and I’m quite friendly with his caddie Ricky. So yeah, there was a bit of golf politics talk, but we’re just chatting, it’s chit-chat and that’s what goes on in locker rooms. But we’re not voicing our opinions or ‘you’re right and I’m wrong’ or we’re not trying to get one up each other. It was a great chat. It was nice to be out there with Brooks,” admitted Lowry, clearly very much comfortable in his own skin.
Did Koepka wish Lowry well for the Ryder Cup?
A long pause from Lowry, before he replied, a little laugh part of his response, “What do you want me to say? You know what, we actually didn’t talk about the Ryder Cup that much because I know he really would have wanted to be on the team, so I don’t want to rub it in too much.”
So, for the here and now, it was about doing their thing in the Amgen Irish Open with no Luke Donald eyes on Lowry nor Keegan Bradley eyes on Koepka.
Lowry shot a three-under-par 69; Koepka a one-under 71. And Couvra, who had come in on the back of three straight missed cuts, shot a 76 with another missed weekend dangerously in sight.
For Lowry, though, his opening round showed the character that Donald had so obviously identified as one of the reasons for giving the Offaly man a ticket to Bethpage.
[ Ryder Cup: Shane Lowry ready to take on more responsibility at Bethpage BlackOpens in new window ]
When Lowry three-putted the 15th hole (his eighth of the round, having started on the 10th) from 40 feet, it left him one-over. His response was to avoid any further bogeys on his card and Lowry added birdies at the 18th, fourth, sixth and ninth to move into a challenging position.
Lowry self-congratulated his ability to stay patient in offsetting some early missed chances, and then that three-putt to turn his round around, and kept focused on the bigger picture.
“I’m here to do one job and that’s to play well this week and give myself a chance here this Sunday. And obviously, going on to Wentworth [for the BMW PGA next week], it’ll be the same thing. They’re such big tournaments that you do want to focus on these tournaments on their own.
“But there is that thing in the back of your head that you’re just happy to put solid rounds of golf together leading up to Bethpage and that’s what I’d like to do over the next couple of weeks. If that results in a chance to win here Sunday or a chance to win at Wentworth next week, I’d obviously be very happy with that,” said a somewhat chirpy Lowry.
