He’s one of Ireland’s greatest sportsmen, but despite his successes on the green, it’s clear that family comes first for Shane Lowry.
The Offaly man has been making his mark on the golf scene since his victory on the Irish leg of the 2009 European Tour, right through to flying the flag for Ireland at the Olympics, and winning the Ryder Cup with Team Europe, but no doubt considers his wife Wendy his greatest win.
Just who is the blond beauty who managed to steal his heart? Well, here’s everything you need to know:
Who is Wendy Honner?
Before meeting Shane, Wendy lived a pretty normal life. Though she is rather private compared to her other half, she is believed to hail from around Pike of Rushall in Laois.
These days, Wendy is front and centre at Shane’s side at glamorous golf tournaments all over the world but before her other half’s success, she worked as a nurse.
Wendy keeps her family life under wraps but, according to to RSVP, has two sisters Hannah and Rachel and regularly makes time to go back to visit her mother in Laois.
She clearly has a love of travelling even when it doesn’t mean standing on a green for hours as she often posts snaps of herself and her friends on their adventures.
How did she meet Shane?
The good old-fashioned way, on a night out! The two first met on what Shane has been quoted as saying to the Irish Independent that it was ‘a random night out’ all the way back in 2012.
While he hasn’t shared where they first crossed paths, he has clarified that it definitely wasn’t at Coppers! Wherever they first met, the couple has been inseparable ever since, and in December 2014, on a beach in Dubai, Shane asked her to marry him.
And why wouldn’t he want to spend his life with her? Shane has never been shy about his love for Wendy, often crediting her as a big part of the reason he has found such success in the sport.
The two were together for almost five years before they made it down the aisle to say their vows.
Where was the wedding?
Wendy and Shane married in New York in June 2016 after sharing a special holiday in the Big Apple a year beforehand. Though the pair do have celebrity status, by all accounts they tried to keep it a low-key affair just a week after The Masters, the first Major of the year.
Speaking about their big day to the Irish Independent Shane said: ‘The guest list [was spiralling] and I get stressed very easily, so we decided the big white wedding at home was not what we wanted. Anyone who knows Wendy knows that she doesn’t like the limelight or anything like that… It was really all very chilled.’
The blushing bride looked stunning in a dress by designer Stephanie Allin with an A-line skirt and structured, cowl-neck bodice. Injecting a bit of personality into her classic, chic, bridal look Wendy added pink embellished heels and a light cashmere shawl as they posed for photos.
His biggest support
Though she prefers to keep out of the limelight, Shane can’t help but gush about how his wife has helped him through all the ups and downs of his stellar career.
Always a massive supporter of her husband, when Shane’s career took a dip in 2018, with him ranked 83rd in the world, they moved to America.
It was this commitment that seemed to help get him back on track as he won The Open Championship the following year. The couple now split their time between their Florida home and regular trips back to the Emerald Isle.
Do they have kids?
Wendy and Shane have two daughters, Iris and Ivy, who can often be seen on the course and on their parents’ social media supporting their daddy as he plays.
Iris was born in March 2017 and although her dad loves to get a new piece of silverware, after his 2019 Victory in Abu Dhabi he claimed that his greatest win was welcoming her into the world.
He was quoted as saying: ‘I’ll be honest, as soon as we had Iris, that’s [winning] what I’d dreamed about. To have both Wendy and Iris in Abu Dhabi as I won was just dream stuff, something I wouldn’t really let myself think about until it actually happened because you’d only get emotional thinking about it.
‘But ever since Iris was born, that’s one of the things I’d always hoped for, for them to come out to me on the 18th green at a tournament. Because that would mean only one thing – I was a winner.’
The couple welcomed their youngest Ivy to the family back in September 2021 with the two making a lowkey announcement of her arrival by sharing a snap of Shane cradling the little one with the caption ‘Welcome to this world Ivy Lowry.’
But time flies and their youngest was seen dressed up in a matching caddy outfit with her mum and hugging Rory McIlroy’s daughter Poppy during the Masters in April 2023.
The 2024 Olympics
Shane, alongside Sarah Lavin, will be acting as a flag bearer for Ireland at the Opening Ceremony in Paris on Friday.
Speaking about the honour, Shane said: ‘It’s a huge honour for me and my family. Anybody who knows me knows how patriotic I am, how much I love Ireland and how much I love playing for my country. I always wear the Irish flag with pride.
‘It’s something that I’m not sure you’d even dream about as a kid because it’s so far out there. To get to do something like this is something that I will remember forever.
Following in Daddy’s footsteps
Iris proved that she inherited her dad’s talent during family day at The Masters in Augusta in 2025 when she sunk an incredible put.
Standing in shot filming his own video and looking every inch the doting dad was Shane, who later posted a clip of the shot captioned ‘Making dad proud.’
Wendy was also thrilled at their little girl’s success and wrote: ‘Best Day’ with a little green heart.
