Another day, another British commentator trying to claim an Irish sports star as one of their own.
With Shane Lowry flying high on The Open leaderboard up in Portrush this weekend, it was only a matter of time before one of our friends across the water made a slip of the tongue. We’ve seen it all before with Katie Taylor and Conor McGregor to name just a couple and today on Sky Sports, Laura Davies added Lowry to the list by claiming “it would be nice see a British winner.”
Shane Lowry is winning #TheOpen so he's now British 🤷♂️😂 pic.twitter.com/QywWwDsWlL
— Kane Clarke (@kaneclarke) July 20, 2019
Groan. The incident comes after BBC presenter Gary Lineker drew some ire last night by responding to a tweet with the words ‘It’s the British Open and Rory McIlroy is British,’ along with a characteristically smug ‘thumbs up’ emoji.
It’s the British Open and @McIlroyRory is British. 👍🏻 https://t.co/Aayn365BKf
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 19, 2019
The confusion around Co. Down’s McIlroy is slightly more understandable, especially because the golfer has previously been reluctant to declare himself as fully British or Irish. However, it was still a fairly irresponsible thing to say for a supposedly educated grown man, particularly in the current political climate.
It’s alright though because Lineker then tried to claim that he was just utilising his slightly weird sense of humour in order to tease some Irish folks. Gas man altogether.
I’m well aware of the complexities, but I’m also aware it’s sometimes a bit of fun to tease.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 19, 2019
As for Lowry, well the last time we checked, Co Offaly was a fair distance away from the border. There are sure to be another couple of gaffes before the weekend is out but as long as Lowry keeps the trophy on this island, we won’t be doing too much complaining.
