Lowry can’t bear to let go of trophy

SHANE LOWRY is still refusing to let the Claret Jug out of his grasp after securing the first Major of his career at The Open on Sunday.

The Irishman says his victory at Royal Portrush has yet to fully sink in.

Lowry, above, even chose to replace his wife Wendy in bed with the coveted trophy.

“I haven’t taken it out of my hands,” he admitted. “There’s so much history on it, there are names from 1872 on this.

“The fact that my name’s on there, I can’t believe it.

“I don’t know if I thought I’d ever win a Major, but to win The Open at Portrush is a dream come true.

“When the dust settles at the end of the week I’ll start to realise what I’ve achieved.

“I’m enjoying this now, but then I’ll begin to enjoy it a bit more because it’s been a crazy couple of days.

“The celebrations are still kind of ongoing, so I’m going back home. It will be good fun. I had a good party on Sunday night when we got back to Dublin and had a nice day with friends on Monday.”

Lowry, 32, said he has been swamped by an outpouring of emotion across the whole of Ireland after the event was taken back to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years.

Reflecting on the phenomenal backing of a partisan crowd, he added: “Come the weekend, when I’m able to sit at home and read about it and see the magnitude of it, I’ll realise what it is.

“The support in Portrush was just incredible. I said to my caddie Bo Martin walking down 18 on Saturday, ‘We might never experience anything like this ever again, so let’s enjoy it as much as we can’.”

Lowry can prolong his celebrations further after it was confirmed he would not be competing at this week’s WGC event in Memphis.