Rory McIlroy was there for the most consequential moment of Shane Lowry’s career, kneeling greenside when his best friend secured t

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — If anybody stepped to the first tee at Portrush with a powerful memory, it was Shane Lowry. He is, after all, the last player to win a British Open at Portrush, in 2019, and he’d been anticipating the emotions that would engulf him for that first tee shot this week for quite a while.

Shane Lowry didn’t know what to make of the mural at first. He doesn’t look at himself as someone worthy of being celebrated as a national hero.