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Shane Lowry seeking unique double at Amgen Irish Open
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Shane Lowry seeking unique double at Amgen Irish Open

Shane Lowry is hoping to give the "sporting mad" fans that line the fairways this week something to cheer as he looks for a second win at the Amgen Irish Open.

The Irishman announced himself onto the world stage when he lifted the trophy at Baltray 15 years ago, becoming just the third and most recent amateur winner on the DP World Tour.

Since then he has become a World Golf Championships and Rolex Series winner and, most famously, triumphed at the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

He now returns to Northern Ireland as Royal County Down plays host to the island of Ireland's open and is relishing the chance to add a professional win to his amateur victory.

"It would be cool to have both," he said. "What I did in Baltray was something that I'll remember forever and I'll always say it would probably be the greatest thing I ever did - didn't realise I was going to do what I did in Portrush.

"I would love it. It's one of the great events on the DP World Tour. It always has been. It's on a great golf course.. this would be a good week to do it.

"The Irish Open is one of the biggest sporting events in Ireland, we are a sporting mad nation. We love our sportspeople and we love our events and we jump on any bandwagon that's going. That's just the way we are.

"You get the Irish Open every year, it's always pretty much sold out, huge crowds. We always get a decent field and when myself and Rory (McIlroy) and Pádraig (Harrington) and the other Irish players turn up, it does make for a great event."

Between them, Lowry, Northern Irishman McIlroy and Harrington have racked up eight Major Championships as well as playing on winning Ryder Cup teams, and Lowry is delighted to be part of that success.

"It is important and we have been successful at the top level," he said. "We've won a lot of Majors over the years. I think we've won more than our fair share of Majors since 2007. Pádraig kickstarted that.

"If I was being completely honest, you'd love to see a few more younger players on tour like Tom McKibbin coming through. We have a couple of good young players in college now in the States and I'd be excited for them. Hopefully they can kick on and get out here and give it a go as well."

This week's layout has often topped lists of the very best golf courses on the planet, providing a true links test with breathtaking views of the Irish Sea.

But Lowry warned the field not to be fooled by its beauty as he expects a potentially record-breaking test.

"It's going to be a really tough test and I think it could be one of the highest winning scores ever in a DP World Tour event this week," he said.

"Would I take level par and sit here and wait? Possibly. That's how tough it's going to be."

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