Shane Lowry splits with Open-winning caddie after loss of competitive ‘spark’

Shane Lowry is urgently looking for a new caddy this Ryder Cup year after an amicable split with Brian “Bo” Martin last weekend.

the Offaly man teamed up with Martin at the Portugal Masters in 2018 and after ending a three-and-a-half-year drought at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2019, the bearded duo have formed a close bond with the highlights of their six-shot win in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in 2019 and last September’s bogey-free BWM PGA Championship victory at Wentworth.

The split with Martin was confirmed last night by Lowry’s management company Horizon Sports Management and the Irish Independent understands the pair have been considering the move for several weeks, believing their nearly four-and-a-half-year relationship had its “spark “lost or “chemistry”.

There were signs of tension between the pair at the Masters last year, when Lowry was caught on TV taking his caddy to task in a four-letter rant about a foul club incident on the 13th hole in the third round.

Sources close to the pair have confirmed that Lowry’s erratic start to the season has confirmed a loss of “mojo” between the pair in the heat of battle.

The Clara man was the only player to fail to score as he lost all four games in the Heroes Cup as Great Britain and Ireland lost to Continental Europe by four points.

Near

Shane Lowry celebrates his first major title with caddy Brian Martin at Royal Portrush in 2019

They discussed the possibility of a split after that event and again at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, where Lowry entered the final round tied for the lead but carded a final-round 76 to finish nine shots behind winner Victor Perez to end

Last week’s missed cut in the Hero Dubai desert delivered the coup de grace to a professional relationship that brought victories in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Open in 2019 and the BMW PGA Championship last year.

However, it leaves Lowry urgently looking for a replacement for an all-important five-in-a-row streak starting next week when he will play the WM Phoenix Open, the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, the Honda Classic, the Arnold Palmer Playing Invitational at Bay Hill. and the Players Championship at Sawgrass for combined purses of $93.4 million.

“Bo’s been amazing the last year,” Lowry said after his Open win in 2019. “He started caddying for me around September of last year, and right when I started playing well again. So he just, like, ‘ brought a new one. he is so excited for me.

“He was amazing today. He stayed on my back all day, kept talking to me, he listened in my ear. I kept telling him how nervous I was, how scared I was, how much I didn’t want to mess it up .up, how could I — all I could think about was walking down 18 with a four or five shot lead.And luckily I was able to do that.

“But, yeah, he was great to keep me in the moment today. He was great for me. Like I said, you see my results since then have been good.

“I have known Bo for a long time. He has now become a very good friend of mine. And to be able to share this with someone so close was very special.”

The pair will remain close, but Lowry now needs a caddy for a year in which he has set his sights on retaining his Ryder Cup spot and reclaiming the trophy in Rome as his number one goals.