Sawt Falasteen - Wildcard Lowry defends Ryder Cup inclusion

The Irishman received one of Europe captain Luke Donald's six wildcard picks in a 12-strong team that will look to regain the trophy from the United States when the biennial competition gets underway in Rome later this month.

Lowry, 36, finished 11th on the European points list and eighth on the world points list, with only the top three on each qualifying automatically.

The former British Open champion's sole top-10 finish in 2023 came in February's Honda Classic.

As a result Donald's decision to select Lowry sparked widespread criticism, with former British Masters winner Richard Bland among those arguing that the form of Adrian Meronk -- who won May's Italian Open at the Ryder Cup venue -- should have seen the Pole selected "over an out-of-form Lowry".

"People have their opinion," Lowry said Tuesday ahead of the Irish Open at The K Club near Dublin.

"Adrian has had a great year and obviously he's unfortunate to miss out, but somebody has to miss out.

"I'm not going to sit here and disagree with Luke Donald. It was his decision at the end of the day, if he thinks that somebody else is better for this team than he (Meronk) was."

He added: "I personally think that's the right way to go about it and I think we have the best 12 players from Europe coming to play this Ryder Cup, and I think we're in form."

As for his own game, Lowry said: "I'm very confident in my own ability, and I know what I can bring.

"My form probably has not been the greatest, but in some of the bigger events I've played some of my best golf and there's nothing bigger than the Ryder Cup.

"Hopefully I can go to Rome and show people what I'm made of."

Lowry will be playing in his second Ryder Cup after being part of the European team that suffered a 19-9 thrashing at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin two years ago.

C.Hamad--SF-PST