Shane Lowry could be a dark horse for a Ryder Cup debut this year.

But while the Offaly ace refuses to think about making Jose Maria Olazabal’s team, he reckons he’d die for Paul McGinley if the Dubliner got the captaincy at Gleneagles in 2014.

Lowry said: “Paul would make a fantastic Ryder Cup captain. I heard he was brilliant at the Seve Trophy. I’d say he’s great in the team room and could really get the players motivated. I can imagine guys bursting out of that team room to play for him.”

The 2009 Irish Open winner is ranked 21st in the race for five spots from the European Points list for this year’s matches in Chicago.

But he’s not actively targeting a place in the side, explaining: “I was actually thinking about that at the Dubai World Championship. I remember Ross McGowan a couple of years ago finished second in Dubai and nearly made the team.

“Going into the last round I thought if I could shoot six under or seven under that I could finish in the top three and go a long way to getting on the Ryder Cup team. I thought about it for a minute but I wasn’t thinking of if during the round.

“I am not going to sit here and say I want to get on the Ryder Cup this year. If I finish 11th in the standings, it is not like I will have had a bad year because I haven’t reached my goal.”