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Cape Town - Reigning Open Championship winner Shane Lowry has been awarded Honorary Life Membership of the European Tour.
The Irishman
finished six shots clear of Tommy Fleetwood at Royal Portrush to lift the
Claret Jug in July.
It was Lowry's maiden Major Championship triumph and came ten years after his unforgettable breakthrough victory as an amateur at the 2009 Irish Open at County Louth Golf Club in Baltray.
The 32-year-old currently leads the European Tour's Race to Dubai, having also won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship earlier this year.
Lowry was presented with his Honorary Life Membership by European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley ahead of the BMW PGA Championship,which gets under way at Wentworth Club in England on Thursday.
"It
is pretty cool to receive this award. When you start playing golf when you're a
kid you don't know how good you can be, or even when you start playing as a
pro. I didn't know that I would get to this day so it's pretty cool," said Lowry.
"I've obviously joined a nice list of names, which is pretty good as well. My heart lies with The European Tour. I'll always be a member. I love coming back and I love playing in events like this. So it's an extreme privilege to receive this."
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: "Shane's incredible victory at Royal Portrush will be remembered as one of the iconic performances in the Championship's storied history... He is also a wonderful ambassador for the European Tour, and is therefore a truly worthy recipient of this honour."
Lowry, who has won five times on the European Tour, becomes the 56th person to be awarded Honorary Life Membership of the European Tour.
Full list of European Tour Honorary Life Members:
1978 - John Jacobs
1978 - Bernard Hunt
1978 - Dai Rees
1982 - Peter Butler
1983 - Seve Ballesteros
1983 - Tony Jacklin
1985 - Sir Henry Cotton
1985 - Fred Daly
1985 - Max Faulkner
1985 - Bernhard Langer
1985 - Sandy Lyle
1987 - Sir Nick Faldo
1992 - Ian Woosnam
1994 - José María Olazábal
1995 - Bob Charles
1995 - Arnold Palmer
1995 - Gary Player
1997 - Colin Montgomerie
1998 - Ernie Els
1999 - Paul Lawrie
1999 - Greg Norman
2001 - Vijay Singh
2002 - Retief Goosen
2003 - Peter Alliss
2003 - Bernard Gallacher
2004 - Neil Coles
2004 - Christy O'Connor
2004 - John Panton
2005 - Michael Campbell
2007 - Angel Cabrera
2007 - Padraig Harrington
2008 - Trevor Immelman
2010 - Martin Kaymer
2010 - Graeme McDowell
2010 - Louis Oosthuizen
2010 - Tom Watson
2011 - Darren Clarke
2011 - Rory McIlroy
2011 - Charl Schwartzel
2011 - Lee Westwood
2012 - Luke Donald
2012 - Brian Huggett
2012 - Tommy Horton
2012 - Mark James
2012 - Roger Chapman
2013 - Dave Thomas
2013 - Justin Rose
2014 - Jack Nicklaus
2016 - Peter Oosterhuis
2016 - Danny Willett
2016 - Henrik Stenson
2017 - Sam Torrance
2017 - Sergio Garcia
2018 - Francesco Molinari
2019 - Patrick Reed
2019 - Shane Lowry
Compiled by Lynn Butler
