Shane Lowry recovered from a mid-round stumble to shoot 1-over 72 and finish 15-under, claiming his first major title at the Open Championship at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush.
Lowry, from Ireland, entered the day at 16-under par and with a four-shot lead over England’s Tommy Fleetwood.
Playing in blustery weather, Lowry stretched the lead to six strokes early but three bogeys in four holes at the turn saw his lead drop back to four.
The winner of The 148th Open and the Champion Golfer of the Year is Shane Lowry 🇮🇪 #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/oKkTTiHfgP
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 21, 2019
Fleetwood’s bid to catch Lowry hit a snag on the 14th hole, when Lowry bogeyed and Fleetwood double-bogeyed. Lowry then birdied No. 15, while Fleetwood shot par, to push his lead back to six with three holes to go.
The pair both shot par over the final three holes to seal Lowry’s victory.
Lowry, 32, held a four-shot lead after 54 holes of the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, but settled for a tie for second after imploding with a final-round 76.
J.B. Holmes, who entered the day alone in third place at 10-under, finished a disastrous 16-over 87 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 67th — ahead of just three players.
American Tony Finau finished third overall at 7-under after shooting even-par on Sunday.
Four-time major champion and world No. 1 Brooks Koepka had a chance to finish in the top three, but failed to birdie No. 18 and finished in a tie for 4th with Britain’s Lee Westwood, who shot a 2-over par 73. Koepka had top-three finishes in the other three majors this season (T2 Masters, 1st PGA Championship, 2nd U.S. Open) and was vying to become the first player in the modern era to finish top three in all four.
He joins Rickie Fowler, Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods as the only players to finish in the top five at all four majors in a calender year in the modern era.
Fowler, who shot 3-over, finished in a four-way tie for sixth at 5-under with Tyrrell Hatton, Danny Willett and Robert Macintyre.
Italy’s Francesco Molinari had the round of the day with a 5-under 66, which boosted him 43 spots into a tie for 11th.
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
