Irish Open star Lowry turns pro
Shane Lowry, European golf's newest star, has turned professional and will make his debut in next week's European Open at the London Club in Kent.
The 22-year-old stunned the sport on Sunday when, playing his first ever Tour event, he beat eight of the world's top 50 - Open and US PGA champion Padraig Harrington included - and 21 of the top 100 in lifting the Irish Open.
That made Lowry only the third amateur ever to land a title on the circuit and, despite Walker Cup captain Colin Dalgleish's hopes that he would not turn pro until after September's match with the Americans, he has decided not to wait.
Lowry, whose win gave him a two-year Tour exemption, becomes a stablemate of Northern Ireland's Ryder Cup star Graeme McDowell and England's Ross Fisher - next week's defending champion - at the Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management.
His victory at the weekend was as dramatic as they come.
On Friday he fired a 10-under-par 62 - it equalled the lowest ever Tour round by an amateur - to take the halfway lead, shared top spot with England's Robert Rock with a round to go and then missed a three-foot putt for the title on the final green.
Rock then missed a nine-footer to win when they went into sudden death and two holes later his bogey six allowed the local hero to tap in and be engulfed by fans.
Lowry's amateur status meant he could not accept the first prize of nearly £440,000 - Rock gratefully accepted that - but next week he will be competing for a £300,000 winner's cheque.
It was only two years ago that Spaniard Pablo Martin became the first amateur to win a Tour title. That was at the Portuguese Open, but his exemption runs out at the end of this season and after finishing 178th on the Order of Merit in 2007 and 182nd last year he remains in danger of a trip to the qualifying school in November.
The other amateur winner was New Zealander Danny Lee at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia in February. He waited until after last month's Masters at Augusta - he was exempt there through his US Amateur victory - before switching to the paid ranks.
