Brendan Lawlor is one of Ireland's most talented disability sports people. He competes at the very highest level of disability Golf and has a plethora of trophies to show for it. But when online abuse about his disability began to surface he knew it was time to take action.
The County Louth native has a bone growth disorder that leads to shorter limbs, known as Ellis Van Creveld Syndrome, and has been on the end negative comments about it throughout his life.
On what should have been one of the proudest moments of his career, earning the chance to play at the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan, the online abuse reared it's ugly head and put a damper on celebrations.
READ MORE: PGA and LIV Golf merger leaves broken relationships in its wake after bitter feud
It was his brother Liam who decided enough was enough. He helped devise the idea and shared it with Brendan and his manager.
"To be honest, it was my brother's idea; this stuff doesn’t annoy me but it's hard for my family to read that,” said Lawlor.
“He came with the idea that I would highlight it. I brought that to my manager and they made a picture to highlight the negativity.
“Timing wise we didn’t think of the G4D Open, it was just after Japan it was a really successful week, not on the golf course but for other things, getting a start on the DP World Tour was huge and it was still fresh.
“So my manager thought it was a really good time to post it, it could've worked out as a negative for me going to the G4D Open as there would've been more pressure on me after coming out with this.
“People might have been thinking how was it going to affect his game but I didn’t really think of it like that. It was something that was highlighted on the day and then I forgot about it.”
The picture was a collection of negative comments posted by online trolls about Lawlor's physical appearance.
The 26-year old is second in the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability behind only his long-term rival Kipp Popert. But Lawlor turned the tables on his old rival by outlasting him on the home stretch of the recent G4D Open.
It was a brave and determined victory, especially after the posting of the online vitriol placed many more eyes upon him than usual. It was in fact a viral video of Lawlor that triggered much of the abuse.
“It wasn’t a sympathy trick, it’s something I've dealt with my whole life,” said Lawlor.
“It's something that doesn’t affect me but I was thinking disability athletes are going to be in the limelight a lot more and it was a great time to highlight it. I have a good enough platform, I have been at the forefront of the game for a long time so it was a great avenue to help other people deal with that kind of stuff.
“I got some lovely messages off some of the biggest stars in the world such as Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy. All these guys got in contact with me, just to let me know that they are on my side, and they support me 100 percent of the way.
“I got a lovely message from Thomas Bjorn saying he is honoured to walk the fairways with me, as I am with him. To get that message from a Ryder Cup captain and a legend of the game was pretty incredible.”
The pressure upon the young man's shoulders was fierce, but he was able to knuckle down and compete.
"It showed a lot of mental strength as that’s something I probably didn’t have last year as I was getting into contention. I was just sort of falling at the line,” said Lawlor.
"It was a three-day event and I put myself in a good position, I didn't think of the social media stuff when I was out there, I was taking myself back to when I won in Dubai and giving myself feelings of how to win again.
“Kipp is a fantastic player, he’s been dominating the disability golf world for the last year. I have beat him before but he pipped me four times last year so it was a monkey to get off my back because I knew I could beat him.
“It was just putting yourself in a position to do so. He grinds very hard so held a lot of shots in the last round and was getting up and down from everywhere and I was hitting fairway and greens and not holing putts.
As Popert faltered towards the end, the value of Lawlor's previous rounds of 70 and 74 became apparent. He parred the last to become the inaugural G4D Open champion.
"There's only one chance to be the first to do something, and it was very special,” said Lawlor.
“It was run by the R&A and the DP World Tour, just for these organisations to recognise disability golf is incredible in itself, so to win it was the icing on the cake.
“It's been a rollercoaster for the last few weeks. The win didn’t sink in for probably a week because there was so much media requirements, I was doing three or four interviews a day."
Lawlor is excited about the rise of the sport here and the work going on behind the scenes. The Irish Open for Golfers with a Disability is coming up at Roganstown ar the end of this month.
"There were only two disability golfers when I started, and now, Golf Ireland did a camp a few weeks ago and there were 30 disability golfers there. I think 20 of them were below 10 handicappers.
“Golf Ireland really grabbed it by the horns and have promoted it to the full extent, they have been unbelievable. They have been funding guys to go to events, they have just been treating them like the normal amateurs and that’s because of Neil Manchip and all of Golf Ireland.
“We are very appreciative of all the hard work they are doing."
READ NEXT:
Brendan Rodgers and Jesse Marsch in Celtic frame to replace Ange Postecoglou
McGregor most influential Irish athlete on IG as he earns 58 times more than KT
Pro boxer Lee Reeves' quest to become world champion in memory of his mum
Rory McIlroy suffers disappointing final round as Viktor Hovland wins Memorial Tournament
Cora Staunton highlights "worry for Mayo going forward" after narrow win over Louth
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
