Open hero rounds off night with singalong in the pub

A rendition of Fields of Athenry delights his fans US tournament dropped as party goes on all week

Eat your heart out Darren Clarke. If Shane Lowry’s runaway victory at Royal Portrush set a new benchmark for Irish winners of the Open Championship then so, too, have his celebrations.

They started with Lowry and his ever-expanding entourage drinking a marquee dry at the Co Antrim links, before taking on champagne as the convoy zoomed past Belfast and then reaching a crescendo at the 37 Dawson Street bar in Dublin, with Lowry pictured standing on a table singing Fields of Athenry and downing a pint.

Yesterday afternoon, after a shower and change, Lowry was spotted in another of the capital’s licensed establishments, the Boar’s Head. Of course, there will be the naysayers who will denigrate the 32-year-old’s felicitations – just as there were for Clarke after he refused to stay coy in toasting his triumph in 2011 – but that will not bother Lowry. He stated his intentions not long after he had picked up the Claret Jug (now renamed the “Clara Jug” after Lowry’s hometown in Co Offaly).

“An American journalist asked me straight afterwards, ‘How big will the party be tonight?’” Lowry said. “I thought I should put him right so replied, ‘You mean how big will the party be this week’.”

If the United States thought he was joking, he signified his devotion to the cause by pulling out of this week’s $10.25million event in Memphis. That was decided by his manager, Conor Ridge, as soon as the last putt went in.

Lowry was obliged to fulfil the duties of the Champion Golfer of the Year, including multiple media obligations as well as a drink with the greenkeepers.

With so many friends and family in tow, an impromptu lounge was set up in the Open clubhouse, a huge tent on the grounds. Lowry eventually joined the party, but it did not last long as the thirst was so great it ran out of drink.

No matter, Lowry had declared this was a success for all Ireland and after sharing the fun with the north, he was determined to let the south have its turn. Limos were booked and so the shindig made the near three-hour trek to Dublin. When they arrived at the bar – owned by a friend – at just before midnight he was stunned to see so many of his fans in attendance.

One was Gary Hayes, a chef from Cork. “Padraig [Harrington] put it out on social media where the party was going to be, so we rushed around there,” Hayes said. “When Shane arrived with the Jug in his hand there were unbelievable scenes. At about 1am, Shane jumped up on to the seat and sang a rousing version of Fields of Athenry, before necking his pint.

“Shane was grand, coming around to us all, signing stuff, letting us kiss the Jug, acting exactly like the great lad everyone says he is. It started to get bright at about 5am and I saw Shane leave. This was a party to put Clarkey’s to shame. And it will be going for another five days, at least.”

Last night every news channel in Ireland was still featuring the win as their lead story and many featured an RTE interview with his grandmother, Emily Scanlon. “I hadn’t drank a brandy since 2009 – drank two yesterday, it’s nearly killing me,” she said. “But it’s great. It’s given our little town a great boost, which was needed.

“When Shane was little I’d mind him while his mother was working and he was always on the go, full of life. And then, I remember when he once came home after winning the Mullingar Scratch Cup and I was shouting at him, ‘Get out there and bring me in a bucket of [peat] turf [used for heating]’. Shane said, ‘Well, you won’t see Tiger Woods bringing in turf ’. I am a very proud granny.”