Club comes first for Brendan Lowry as he misses son's Irish Open triumph

Shane and Brendan Lowry

Shane Lowry's father Brendan was conspicuous by his absence as the Clara golfer cruised to a record 11-shot win at the Amgen Irish Open in Doonbeg yesterday.

That's because Brendan - who was one of the heroes of Offaly's famous 1982 All-Ireland SFC final victory over Kerry and was inducted into the Offaly GAA Hall of Fame earlier this year - was on selector duty for Clara in their Offaly SFC quarter-final against Shamrocks at Glenisk O'Connor Park.

Unfortunately for Brendan, Clara suffered a 1-12 to 1-19 loss as Offaly goalkeeper Paddy Dunican - who made his return from an ACL injury - inspired the Rahan-parish men to victory with a huge haul of 1-12. But that was tempered by Shane's great win, 17 years on from his last Irish Open success as an amateur.

In yesterday's other Offaly SFC quarter-final, two quickfire goals from the returning John Furlong at the start of the second half helped four-in-a-row chasing Tullamore to a 5-13 to 0-12 win over Ballycommon.

In the semi-finals on the weekend after next, Shamrocks will face Ferbane and Tullamore will meet Rhode.