On today’s Golf Weekly podcast we're naturally looking forward to the USPGA at Whistling Straits, while still lazily basking in the reflected glory of Shane Lowry's World Golf Championship win at Akron. Not a bad week of golf all round, particularly for Irish fans.
In my Irish Independent column this week, I told an anecdote which, pretty much sums my various dealings with Shane.
It was a week before the Open Championship and we had hit a problem.
He was promoting his new clothing range and a healthy media contingent had assembled, all of us looking for our pound of flesh.
Shane and I were about to begin the interview when one of the PR officials popped his head around the door: "How long do you think you’ll need?’" he asked me. Appreciating the busy nature of the day I responded rather generously with ’"Just 12 or 13 minutes would be great’"
Now, I’m no expert in body language, but this did not go down well with my new PR friend. "Oh, can you to keep it to 6-7 minutes tops?" I balked slightly. "I could really do with closer to 12 or 13."
Hence, our problem.
Now if this strikes you as all rather ridiculous, then you're right of course. But my PR friend is doing his job. He wants Shane to speak to as many outlets as possible. If he allows every scheduled interview to double in length, then Shane will be sitting around for an extra few hours. I, meanwhile, would prefer an interview as opposed to a sound bite. It's a regular enough kind of impasse, which often spoils the interview.
In almost all instances the interviewee stays out of it. He or she doesn’t fancy sitting around for the extra few hours. Who would?
Thankfully Shane intervened. "It's fine. Honestly we’ll be fine doing the extra few minutes." And hey presto, the way was cleared, I hit record.
And that's Shane Lowry.
He is one of the few sports people I really enjoy catching up with. It is just a pleasant experience. Anybody with his level of fame or wealth or talent is under no real obligation to do anything beyond the minimum for the media. But he does. And he always does it with a smile and a warm greeting and a sense of decency. I assure you, this is far from universal.
The win has come at a great time for him too. Since his Irish Open win as an amateur, he’d only managed victory once, in 2012 on the European Tour in Portugal. Another full season without a title would have been disappointing. There would have been a sense he’d failed to kick on.
Now, aged 28, he has a Top 10 at the US Open under his belt and a huge win on the world stage. A WGC assures him of his PGA Tour status for three years, moves him up to No. 19 in the world rankings and sets him up for the next phase of his career at just the right time. There is an increasing sense that he's ready for it too.
In the wake of his momentous win, there will be plenty of focus on Lowry going into the weekend, but there will also be another standout grouping for the first two days at Whistling Straits: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson. Zach won't mind me saying he's not the star attraction.
Golf has always been built on rivalries. Frustratingly they've been a little out of kilter in the age department. We never saw Arnold Palmer at his peak against the younger Jack Nicklaus. Tom Watson came along a little later for Nicklaus. The Tiger Woods era was about dominance.
In McIlroy and Spieth we have two guys who could do war for the next decade and this week feels like their proper first head to head bout. Speith has come of age, and McIlroy appears verily keen to re-stamp his authority as World Number 1. On Wednesday, he was asked who the best player in the world is, but his reply indicated he knows he's in for a battle: "Ask me at the end of the week".
You can listen to this week's bumper edition of the Golf Weekly podcast below:
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
