Though Padraig Harrington has said that his friendship with Shane Lowry is a 'selfish' one from his perspective, it's clear that there's a real rapport between two of Ireland's best golfers.
In a dual interview with Paul Kimmage in the Sunday Independent, Harrington says that having Lowry on the PGA has made life far more enjoyable. Lowry is someone Harrington can socialise with after a day spent on the course at various locations on the tour. The three-time Major winner is unsure if he could tolerate it without the Offaly man.
During the interview, Harrington saw an opportunity to offer Lowry some positive criticism. He'd noticed in a recent tournament that Lowry had expressed exasperation after hitting a tee-shot from the right side of the tee-box (Lowry prefers to tee-off from the left). Harrington suggested that Lowry's self-criticism was unconstructive. In future, if he hits a good drive from the right side, he should tell himself that he 'loves it' and if he hits a bad shot, simply ignore it.
Asked if he had anything else he'd like to tell Lowry, Harrington had a little story from a flight which they were both on the previous day.
As the plane experienced some turbulence, Harrington attempted to calm a nervous fellow passenger. Lowry did not help the circumstances.
PH: We hit some turbulence on the flight down here last night and there was a woman and she was very nervous, gripping the arm rests. So I'm there, making things up and trying to talk her through it.
SL (smiles): He was trying to get her to think positively.
PH: I spent at least 10 minutes trying to calm her down, saying: "Turbulence has never, ever taken a plane down."
SL: And I said: "There's a first time for everything." (They laugh.)
PH: I wanted to strangle him.
