Shane Lowry plans to use this week’s inaugural Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi to provide a platform to representing Europe at the Ryder Cup – where he says his potential teammates need to complement the “two best players in the world” in Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.
Abu Dhabi Golf Club plays host to the recently created competition from Friday to Saturday, where a team from Great Britain and Ireland led by Tommy Fleetwood take on a Europe side with Francesco Molinari at the helm.
The Hero Cup, which effectively replaces the Seve Trophy that ran between 2000 and 2013, will be used primarily to give potential European Ryder Cup players a taste of the format. This week’s event, played on the National Course, is overseen by Luke Donald, the European captain for this year’s Ryder Cup, which takes place in Rome from September 29-October 1.
Lowry, who debuted at the Ryder Cup two years ago when the United States prevailed 19-9 in Wisconsin, competes in the capital for GB and Ireland. The Irishman, a former winner of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, believes it offers a golden opportunity to lay some early groundwork for the Ryder Cup.
“Obviously, I want to be a part of Luke’s team in Rome, and I feel like if this gives me any little bit of an edge in Rome, if I’m there, I need to be playing here,” Lowry was quoted as saying in the Irish Independent.
“The two best players in the world are European players at the minute, I feel, with [world No 5] Jon and [world No 1] Rory. It’s up to us, the rest of the lads, to get our game to a level where we are good enough to win the Ryder Cup at the end of the year.”
For the Hero Cup, the two 10-man teams will compete in foursomes, fourballs and singles - all 20 players take part in each session – with five fourball matches kicking off the action on Friday. Two sets of five foursomes matches will be played on Saturday, with the 10 singles on Sunday.
Meanwhile, golf fans in the UAE and across the Mena region will be able to watch live coverage of the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, and the 2023 Ryder Cup, on “Golf Life”, a new 24/7 channel dedicated to the game. The channel, owned and operated by evision, has acquired exclusive broadcasting rights for the game’s two lead tours for this year and next, and will also show the 2024 Presidents Cup.
At present, “Golf Life” will be available in the sports and premium packages on eLife IPTV, as well as on sports packages on Switch TV. Golf Life will also be distributed across the Mena region through Starzplay.
