Shane Lowry Confirms Retirement Plans After ‘Really Good Career’

December 22, 2025

Shane Lowry has confessed that he already has one eye on retirement after revealing golf exit plans.

The Irishman has played for 17 years now on the professional tour, and has revealed he has already made some retirement plans.

Shane Lowry Reveals Retirement Plans

After announcing himself on the world stage by winning the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur, Shane Lowry has had quite the professional golf career.

The Irishman has won several times on both the PGA Tour and European Tour, including winning the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush in his sole major triumph.

The Mullingar golf ace has also excelled in team golf, playing a major part in Team Europe’s success having made the team on three occasions in 2021, 2023 and most recently this year.

Lowry was part of a winning European side in both 2023 in Rome and 2025 in New York, even sinking the decisive putt at Bethpage to secure victory for Luke Donald and co on away soil.

SHANE LOWRY COMES UP CLUTCH TO RETAIN THE RYDER CUP! #TeamEurope | #OurTimeOurPlace pic.twitter.com/Q6LKpWr0aQ

— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 28, 2025

Now at 38, Lowry has revealed that he is most definitely on the ‘back-nine’ of his career, having turned professional over 17 years ago after his Irish Open triumph in 2007.

The former Claret Jug winner has revealed he has begun thinking of his retirement and when he plans to call it a day on the golf course.

Lowry has started to think realistically about how long he has left at the top of the sport, and admitted he doesn’t want to be one of those players that is still out playing week in, week out on the professional circuit at 50-years-old.

Although retirement isn’t necessarily near for Lowry, he is very much a realist about his time left at the top of the sport.

https://twitter.com/GolfDigest/status/1999142026986541343

Shane Lowry Planning Golf Retirement At 45-Years-Old

Shane Lowry is preparing to get back on the fairways early in the New Year, with a January return set for the Irish golf star.

Lowry will tee it up at the Dubai Desert Classic alongside best friend and Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy and several other top European Tour stars for the new 2026 season.

Next year will mark Lowry’s 18th season as a professional golfer, meaning he is very much a veteran now when it comes to players on the PGA Tour.

Although the 38-year-old doesn’t know exactly when he’ll put his clubs away for good, he has revealed he has a rough age marker in his head.

Shane Lowry reflects on how he and Rory McIlroy dealt with abuse from spectators during Europe's run towards Ryder Cup victory at Bethpage Black in September | @RTELateLateShow pic.twitter.com/7uL8zwFqbX

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) December 12, 2025

“If I can get another good five or six years out of myself, I sort of have 45 in my head,” Lowry told The Irish Times.

“I’m not saying I’m going to retire when I’m 45, but what I’m saying is I feel like if I can get to 45 still at a competitive level, I’ve done very, very well.

“I feel like if I can get up to 20, 21, 22 years on tour at a high level, I’ve had a really, really good career,” said the former major champion.

The world number 27 has made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want to continue playing into his late 40s, with exception of any of the majors he may qualify for as a past champion.

One thing that the Offaly man also made clear was his Ryder Cup ambitions. With the 2027 Ryder Cup set for Adare Manor in County Limerick.

Ryder Cup At Adare Manor On Shane Lowry’s Radar

Rory McIlroy may have been the second most googled athlete globally in 2025, but fellow Irish golfer and best friend Shane Lowry was the one who sank the winning putt at the 2025 Ryder Cup.

The 38-year-old may feel like he often plays second fiddle to McIlroy when it comes to Irish golf, but not when it comes to the Ryder Cup.

McIlroy, Lowry and the rest of Team Europe all played a major role in winning for the first time on US soil since 2012, and the Clara man has revealed it is the Ryder Cup that is fuelling him going forward.

Shane Lowry from Offaly who took so much abuse from US mouthpieces, holes the winning putt with US troopers standing by. What a picture! #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/xA4uWgppyD

— Gerry McK (@GMcK2012) September 28, 2025

With the 46th Ryder Cup set for Adare Manor in Limerick, Lowry is desperate to play a major part in the team once again, and not on the sidelines:

“If you were to sit down and say to me here now, you’re going to be a part of a winning Ryder Cup team in Adare Manor, I’d be like, ‘I genuinely don’t care what I do for the next two years’.

“I definitely don’t want to be driving buggies in Adare,” Lowry told The Irish Times.

“So, that’s my number one [priority]. I know there’s a chance I’ll be there in some capacity, but I want to be playing,” concluded the Irish golfer.

It remains to be seen when Shane Lowry does in fact retire from golf and call it a day. Although he has begun thinking of his retirement plans, the 38-year-old still has plenty to give.