What kind of person is open leader Shane Lowry? Laurie Canter has the full story.
Oisin Keniry/Getty Images
ETROON, Scotland – When it comes to professional golfers, it can be hard to tell the real from the fake.
Most professional golf men and women it seems it's great hanging inside our television screens, but everyone gets friendly when there's a television camera pointed in their face. Human understanding the environment it's a little tough, especially in this age of social media managers and executives and well-groomed public images. On the other hand, there is nothing fans want more than to understand the nature of their sports heroes.
Is the golfer in front of me indeed Who are they – real, friendly, boots-to-nuts good dude? Or are they carefully cultivated inventions, the kind of person who behaves like a generous, well-heeled man to turn his song into a commercial, disinterested when the cameras are off?
When it comes to Open Championship leader Shane Lowry, we can answer the above question with confidence. Lowry may be a tough competitor (lest we forget his close fistfight with Joe LaCava on the 18th green at last Fall's Ryder Cup), but he's also one of golf's biggest bears. He's not just one of the world's most popular players on the fairway – he's also one of the most popular golfers away from the golf course.
Stories of his kinship and generosity extend beyond the PGA Tour paths – stories like those shared by fellow Open competitor (and DP World Tour pro/LIV finalist) Laurie Canter at the Open Championship on Saturday.
“Okay, I have good news for Shane Lowry,” Canter said on Saturday at Royal Troon.
The story, Canter said, begins in his first year on the DP World Tour in 2016. Canter was a sensation that year, as he progressed through qualifying for the DPWT and into the main circuit, and his play reflected that. He played in 17 events as a rookie and made just six cuts, racking up prize money just south of $50,000 — though not enough to cover his travel expenses.
Life on the road had brought him to the Portuguese Masters, where he had gone out to dinner at a diner with another struggling rookie named Gary Hurley. As is often the case during tour weeks, Hurley and Canter weren't the only pros enjoying a meal at the pizzeria — and in the dining room was Lowry, whom no player knew beyond a few words throughout the season.
“We had dinner together at a diner,” Canter recalled. “At the end of the meal, the bill came, and the lady said, your bill was settled by that man over there, and it was Shane. So go.”
Canter and Hurley were charged.
“I didn't know him, I hadn't said anything to him at the time,” Canter said. So there you go. I have not forgotten that. It was a really good gesture.”
A feat good enough, apparently, that Canter felt compelled to share it Saturday at the Open Championship, the same morning Lowry entered the tournament tied for last and the 36-hole lead alone.
Lowry could go on to win his second Open this weekend at Royal Troon. Heavy rain on Saturday and strong winds on Thursday and Friday bode well for his style of play that embraces chaos. If he's on the hunt on Sunday afternoon, though, you can be sure the rest of Troon will be behind him.
Both without wires, and surprisingly, inside them.
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