Shane Lowry hopes Luke Donald will chase chance to create Ryder Cup history in Adare

SHANE Lowry is hoping Luke Donald grabs his opportunity to create Ryder Cup history at Adare Manor next year by leading Europe to a third straight victory in the biennial bout.

After masterminding wins in Rome in 2023 then New York last year, Donald is mulling over the chance to be at the helm once again in County Limerick next September.

Only Tony Jacklin and Bernard Gallacher have captained Europe on more than two occasions against the Americans, with Donald having the opportunity to become the first skipper of either team to land three victories.

“Yeah, look, I think it's Luke's if he wants it,” declared Lowry, a member of Donald’s teams at both Marco Simome and Bethpage Black, where he held his nerve to hole a crucial putt on the last green in the singles as the Americans threatened to pull off a stunning last-day fightback.

READ NEXT: Former Limerick star joins Meath senior hurling backroom team

“Does he want it or not? I'm not sure," added Lowry, speaking ahead of his appearance in this week's Hero Dubai Desert Classic. "It's a big undertaking for him, and he's obviously been very successful. But obviously there's a huge carrot dangling there to go three in a row and be the only person to do that.

“But that's up to him. He's here this week. I'm sure he'll have conversations about it this week. Like is there a template there? Probably yes. But I think the last two Ryder Cups and the continuity of it all was amazing, and it obviously will be good to have that for Adare Manor.

“But it is his decision. It is a big undertaking for him, and it's also a big undertaking for his family because he will be travelling a lot more. He'll be in Ireland a lot obviously getting ready for it. When you're doing a home Ryder Cup, there's a lot more planning with you and your wife and stuff. Yeah, I'd certainly love to see him as a captain.”

Lowry, who is teeing up in a star-studded field headed by world No 2 Rory McIlroy and third-ranked Tommy Fleetwood, described a last-hole double bogey as a “disaster” as a chance to land a first individual win since 2022 slipped out of his grasp in the Dubai Invitational on Sunday.

“I'm okay now,” insisted the Offaly man, smiling, at a pre-event press conference at Emirates Golf Club on Tuesday. “I'll be honest, like I went and packed up my stuff at the hotel, and I got in my car and I came over to the hotel for this tournament. I felt like sitting in my room for the evening on Sunday evening, but I went and met some friends for dinner.

“Kind of tried to have as good a time as I could, but you kind of go to bed that night and you wake up thinking, ‘what if, what could I have done differently’. Even yesterday was a bit of a slow day for me. I came out here and hit some balls and played nine holes.

“Yeah, just trying to get it out of my system really. But I feel good today. I think speaking to people closest to me over the last day or so, like you can only take positives from it, really.

“I played great last week, haven't played in a while. First tournament of the year. It's nice to get the year off to a great start and hopefully it's a sign of things to come for the rest of the year.”