Shane Lowry admits he would have been tempted to wear an Offaly jersey down the 18th in his final round at the Irish Open had the Offaly minors hung on to win the minor All-Ireland hurling title.
Lowry got the heads up as he got to the 17th tee at Mount Juliet that his Faithful minors were ahead in the final that was taking place just 20 minutes up the road in Nowlan Park.
But there was heartbreak for Offaly when Tipp scored the winning goal four minutes into injury time, overturning a two-point deficit with time almost up.
READ MORE: Shane Lowry dreaming of an Offaly double on Sunday - and a party in Tullamore
"Yeah, bad news," sighed Lowry, who came on board as a benefactor to Offaly GAA in April of last year.
"I was told going to the 17th tee that we had won and then I stood on the 17th tee and saw my brother and he gave me the thumbs down - goal in the last minute.
"It's devastating for those young lads. Look, that's sport isn't it, I've been on the wrong side of a lot of results and if you take the positives from it you'll be OK, but obviously it's going to be a hard few days for them.
"And I'm gutted for them, I'm gutted for (Offaly chairman) Michael Duignan and for everyone behind the scenes.
"I know everyone was really excited about this, I was too, but like I said that's sport."
Lowry's final round 67 that could earn him a top 10 in his national open, 12 years on from when he claimed a famous victory at Baltray as an amateur.
As he said on the eve of the tournament, he would have loved a party in Tullamore after an historic Offaly double on Sunday night. It was not to be, however.
He recovered from his disappointment over the final result to post a birdie on the 17th.
"Yeah it was a bit like, 'Ah', you know? I actually had my Offaly jersey in the bag, I was tempted to put it on down 18 if they had won," he smiled.
"Yeah, it is disappointing. It's very disappointing."
Next for Lowry is a road trip to Adare for the JP McManus Pro-Am on Monday and Tuesday, and it's one he's looking forward to before getting down to the business of preparing for the British Open at St Andrews the week after next.
"Yeah obviously I want to go out and play well," said the 35-year-old.
"But I'm going down to relax and unwind a little bit and I'm going to have two teams in the Pro-Am part and I want to give them as good a time as I can when we're out there on the course and to especially give the big crowds as good a time as I can as well.
"I'm looking forward to it, everybody who has been there knows Adare Manor is one of the nicest places in the world and I'm looking forward to putting my feet up there for the next couple of days!".
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