Shane Lowry: Ryder Cup on par with Open triumph

Shane Lowry has said that Europe's 2023 Ryder Cup triumph sits right alongside his Open victory at Portrush in 2019.

The Offaly man’s first major title had been the highlight of his professional career, but he said that the 16.6-11.5 win over America at Marco Simone now matches it.

"Right now, it feels better. I'd say it’s on par," he told RTÉ Sport's Greg Allen of how it felt.

"I’ve achieved some great things in golf, winning the Open in my home country being one of them, but this is something...I’m going to put that replica Ryder Cup trophy that we get right in beside the Claret Jug in my trophy case.

"That’s going to be a very proud moment for me, it’s amazing."

Luke Donald’s team entered Sunday’s singles with a five-point lead and the potential to finish things early doors with three of the top four players in the world rankings – Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland - out inside the first four games.

However, Zach Johnson’s players dug in with the outcoming landing on the tail order of Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and Rob MacIntyre.

Lowry said that he had hoped that it wouldn’t come to that, but he was happy that they could finish the job as he and Fleetwood both guaranteed the half point needed within moments of each other.

"This is a big day in my golfing career, something that I wanted to achieve for a long, long time," Lowry said.

"My dreams have come true today to be honest. I’m looking forward to sitting back over the next few weeks and taking it all in.

"I've got six weeks off now, which is really nice and then I’m going to have to do my best to set some goals for next season but right now I don’t really care about that. I’ll try and enjoy the moment, what a day out there.

"I was hoping it wasn't going to come down to