Rory McIlroy explains 'little fat kid with glasses' Shane Lowry story
Rory McIlroy recognised the talent in Shane Lowry at an early age, but who referred to the 2019 Open champion as "the little fat kid in glasses"?
Rory McIlroy has recalled the time he and coach Pete Cowen recognised the talent in a teenage Shane Lowry, who was labelled "the little fat kid with glasses".
Renowned coach Cowen worked with both McIlroy and Lowry as youngsters and played a huge part in turning them into world-class golfers.
The story emerged in 2019 when Cowen was asked for his opinions on the pair, and the instructor claimed: "Rory's going to be great, but there's another good one out there. The little fat lad with the glasses!"
It's a well-known story on Tour, and McIlroy was asked for his version of events during his pre-tournament press conference ahead of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
McIlroy also joked about the future of his caddie Harry Diamond.
McIlroy, fresh off his spectacular Irish Open victory at The K Club on Sunday, has clear memories of being coached by Cowen along with Lowry, who is now one of his best friends on Tour.
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"Shane was a bit of a late bloomer," said McIlroy, who is looking for his first win at Wentworth since 2014. "So I probably really didn't get to know Shane until we were like 17 or 18 years of age.
"You could always see the potential in Shane, he always had the hands. Obviously Pete was there and he was coaching us or he was brought in as a consultant for the Golfing Union of Ireland.
"Obviously Pete has worked in a lot of world-class players over the years. He obviously has an eye for seeing these things.
"Shane was the kid with the glasses that had a great short game, and he's obviously turned out to be a hell of a player, major champion and a great competitor.
"I think that's the thing like that I respected more about Shane than anything else is just his grittiness and his competitiveness, and he cares a lot.
"I think that is a good thing 99 percent of the time, but sometimes I would say maybe he cares too much sometimes.
"But yeah, he's obviously one of my best friends out here and carries himself so well, and obviously happy to play on another Ryder Cup team with him in a couple of weeks."
Keith Jackson joined GolfMagic's content team during the summer of 2025.
He has over 25 years' experience in the sports journalism industry, with almost 20 of those spent in digital media at Sky Sports, including seven years as digital editor for golf content.
