By Oisin Doherty

Copyright irishmirror

Shane Lowry was the hero for Europe, securing a crucial half-point against Russell Henley to ensure that the Ryder Cup was retained by Luke Donald’s men. With Europe capitulating under the pressure, USA reeled off Birdie after Birdie to reduce the arrears from seven points all the way down to three at one stage, with Europe teetering on the edge of disaster. Trailing by two to Russell Henley, Lowry played some phenomenal golf down the stretch to cut the gap to one, and made a brilliant Birdie on 18 to better Henley’s par, securing a half point for Europe and ensuring that they reached the coveted 14 point mark to retain the Ryder Cup Tyrrell Hatton went on to secure another half point for Europe and win the match for Luke Donald’s side, but it was Lowry’s putt that ended the tension and got Europe over the line. Speaking to Sky Sports after his draw with Henley, an overwhelmed Lowry struggled to put into words the magnitude of his achievement. “I’ve been so lucky to experience amazing things in this game. That was the hardest couple hours of my life, honestly,” said Lowry. “I can’t believe that ball went in. I stood over it and went ‘this is it’.” Lowry has had some amazing moments in golf, none more so than when he won the Open in Royal Portrush in 2019, but the Irishman has a special connection with the Ryder Cup, and it’s clear that today’s win meant more to him than anything. “I said to Darren walking down 18, ‘I have the chance to do the coolest thing in my life here.’ “The Ryder Cup means everything to me. I won the Open in Ireland but the Ryder Cup is everything. “To do that on the 18th in front of everyone. It was so hard. Fair play to the US lads. We knew they would come out fighting. “I just hope one of the boys can get a half point so we can get the win.”