Mark Roe says Shane Lowry was right to turn pro - but this is where the learning process begins.
Don't heap too much expectation on Irish star
It wasn't so long ago that Pablo Martin became the first amateur to win a European Tour event.
His win at the Portuguese Open back in April 2007 was truly memorable, but most people figured it was going to happen at some point. The guys at the top end of the amateur ranks nowadays are mentally and physically prepared to compete at the highest level.
Martin's victory gave the top amateurs the belief that they could win a main Tour event and earlier this year Danny Lee won in Australia. I suppose in some ways it's a bit like the first 59 - when somebody shoots one then it's feasible a few more might follow. An acceptance of possibility does change things.
However, that does not diminish the fact that it is an astonishing achievement for any amateur to win on the European Tour - and when Shane Lowry became the third man to do so at the Irish Open two weeks ago, it was extra special.
For an Irish amateur to win the national Open was truly historic. I watched the whole thing unfold live on
Sky Sports and it was theatre and drama of the very highest order.
I must admit, I felt sorry for Robert Rock who played the best tournament of his life and was so close to his maiden victory. He conducted himself magnificently in front of a very partisan crowd.
When he holed a 12-footer to stay alive in the play-off you would normally expect the crowd to go ballistic. Instead, there was a ripple of muted applause because the Irish fans wanted their boy to win so badly.
Lowry eventually came through and the Irish fans are probably still celebrating. I wouldn't be surprised if they declared a two-week public holiday in his hometown of Clara!
Logical step
The logical step for Lowry was to turn professional. He has proved that his game is good enough to compete at the highest level and there will have been a huge demand from management companies and sponsors for him to turn pro.
Padraig Harrington suggested he should have waited until after the Walker Cup and those are interesting comments from a highly intelligent golfer. You have to respect his views, but personally I disagree. If you're ready, get on with it.
I think it's right for him to capitalise at this time, even if it's purely in a financial sense to set himself up for the start of his career. He has exemptions to go and play in Tour events and I think he's right to go and learn what it's like to play as a professional. It's time for him to learn his craft.
The amateur game holds nothing for him now. Danny Willett once said that as soon as he'd experienced the atmosphere of playing in a televised professional tournament, the amateur game felt flat to him. It might be the same for Lowry.
Transition
It will be fascinating to see how Lowry does. Will he go through the Justin Rose scenario and struggle to make the transition smoothly or will he step straight into the highest bracket as Rory McIlroy has?
Even though Lowry has won the Irish Open, I still think there is a lot to prove before you could place him in the same class as McIlroy. It would be unfair to compare the two of them just yet.
McIlroy is a world-class professional who I see winning major championships. It will be exciting to see Lowry develops because at this time nobody really knows how good he can be.
Learning process
At this week's European Open he needs to feel his way into life as a professional and this is where the learning process begins.
Over the course of the season he should be looking to get himself into contention on a regular basis. Over the next few months, we will learn more about him than we did at the Irish Open.
This week he should arrive at the European Open with the aim of making the cut. It would be unfair to heap too much expectation on him. It was a prodigious, historic achievement at the Irish Open and one that will make him forever a legend, especially in Ireland.
But now he has to settle down and realise that the career of a professional golfer is a marathon and not a sprint.
