Paul McGinley singled out fellow Irishman Shane Lowry for praise after Lowry led the Irish contingent with a round of 70 on the opening day of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Lowry’s score made sure he was the leading Irishman and with a round that was one shot fewer than the Ryder Cup captain who was playing alongside his Irish compatriot.
And with the start of Ryder Cup qualifying just a few months away McGinley, while full of praise for the reigning Portugal Masters champ, was also very diplomatic in his assessment.
Paul McGinley sings the praise of Shane Lowry on day one of 2013 BMW PGA. (Photo – Fran Cafrey/www.golffile.ie)
“Shane played very well and he is like a number of kids,” said McGinley.
“I don’t want to put pressure on them or expectation on them but he is a great kid.
“Though there is another 40 guys capable of stepping up to that level and I wish him the best of luck and I will be full of encouragement for him as I will be everybody else.
“Chances are, there will be rookies in the European team and that bunch of guys ready to step up and Shane is one of those, so I will be watching him closely like I will the rest of the guys.”
McGinley said the pair talked all the way around Wentworth about next Sunday’s first round of the Ulster Championship.
Lowry said: “I don’t think I’ve played much with Paul but then I remember my first ever event, I played with him. I can’t remember other than that.
“We had a decent chat going around, mostly about Gaelic football, which is great. I don’t think Liang (Wen-chong Liang and Chinese member playing with the Irish) knew too much about that.
“But I was quizzing Paul if he thought Donegal were going to win the All Ireland but he had no comment (laughing).
“Paul’s great lad, great to me over the last few years. When I was sick in Dubai late last year, he was in the hospital visiting me every day and stuff like that. We get on well….Paul’s just Paul.”
South African James Kingston, playing on an invitation, heads the field on six under par but with 15 players still to complete their round when poor light halted play at 8.54pm local UK time.
