Shane Lowry: 'I want a medal for my family, my town and my county'

Shane Lowry let there be no doubt that he has gone to the 2020 Olympic Games determined to bring a medal home for Team Ireland. 

One of two Irish golfers at the Games alongside Rory McIlroy, the Offaly native insisted on Wednesday's OTB AM that he had not only gone to Tokyo for the experience.

"I feel like I can hopefully go out and contend for a medal this week," he explained. "That's my aim being here because I didn't come here just to enjoy the experience.

"It would be pretty cool if I could play some good golf, get myself into contention and give everyone at home something to cheer about."

A field of highly competitive golfers, Lowry dismissed any notion that an Olympic medal will not mean as much compared to the various major competitions on offer every year.

"Most weeks where I turn up I feel like I can finish in the top 3 anyway," he remarked. "I have my game plan ready for this golf course and I just need to execute it.

"This is my first experience of this and it will be different but hopefully I can handle all of that and play good golf.

"It doesn't matter if I'm out playing my friends at home for €5 or it competing for a gold medal at the Olympics, I want to play my best and I'm a competitor at the end of the day.

"We're here, we're proud golfers and we want to do our best. Be it a British Open, a Masters or the Olympics, we want to go out and win the tournament.

"This is a huge week for me and I would love to win a medal here. I'd give anything to bring a medal home to Clara... For my family, my town, my county and my country, I want to try and bring a medal back to everyone."

28 July 2021; Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry of Ireland during a practice round | Sportsfile

In a change of tack for the 2019 Open champion, Lowry's caddie for the competition will be his brother, Alan.

Asked whether his usual caddie 'Bo' Martin may be looking over his shoulder if Alan is on the bag for a gold medal win in Tokyo, Lowry assured Martin he need not worry.

"'Bo' will be back next week in Memphis," he explained, "but just to have my brother here experiencing the whole thing with me is pretty cool and he does a great job.

"Alan's got a job though and he's pretty happy doing that [so] he's taken a week off this week to come and do it for me."

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