Shane Lowry's father Brendan celebrated his 60th birthday on Friday, and his son handed him the Claret Jug he had just won at Royal Portrush saying, "happy birthday, Da".
The Offaly man won the Open Championship by six shots finishing on 15-under-par, 10 years after his first success on the European Tour, winning the Irish Open at Baltray in County Louth.
Speaking after his son secured his first major victory, Brendan said, "I just can't believe he won by six shots, first anyway.
"Rather than catching him, he'd have to fall back. I'm very happy he dug it out. He started nervously. I don't know how anyone can tee off on the first tee, its a nightmare. He got it out there. He got a great bogey from seven feet. Then he came back into it and played nice, he played well all week."
Brendan Lowry also spoke about three-time major winner Padraig Harrington coming to congratulate the family after the 32-year-old's win, "Padraig Harrington came in and he said 'will you all stop crying', that's what he said - everybody was crying you think something serious happened.
"That's what he dreamed about when he was playing, like any young sportsman they dream about that.
When asked how it compared to his own success with the Offaly footballers in 1982, when they stopped Kerry from winning five All-Ireland Championships in a row, he said, "there's no comparison at all, different. When your son does that, there's not too much that can, you know. That was a different, I can't really say anymore.
"Golf is so fickle sometimes. Even today he looked like he was going to drop a shot and then he holed a putt and Tommy Fleetwood missed one and he gained one. Instead of four shots ahead, he was six shots. Golf is very funny."
