Shane Lowry enhances reputation as big-time player with Wentworth win

The man dressed rather fittingly in his traditional black, a throwback to his old GAA days with Clara, brought a feelgood vibe to an area not a million miles from Windsor Castle which has been in grief in recent days; for, with a wonderful display of faultless golf, Shane Lowry enhanced his reputation as a big-time player in adding the European Tour’s flagship tournament, the BMW PGA Championship, to his impressive career curriculum vitae.

Through three rounds a championship shortened to 54-holes due to the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Lowry kept focused on his golf and avoided a bogey all three days. And he finished in great style with a closing birdie in a final round of 65 — an eagle and five birdies — for a winning total of 17-under-par 199, a stroke clear of Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.

“It gives me a great privilege to win this tournament because it is one of the biggest in the world and it is the reason I play golf. You look at the great names on this trophy, and this is what golf is about,” said an emotional Lowry, after his first win since his 2019 British Open success ended a spell of close calls and near misses.

[ BMW Championship as it happened: Shane Lowry beats McIlroy and Rahm by a shot at Wentworth to win ]

Lowry’s victory earned a pay-day of €1.35 million for his sixth career win on tour which also moved him to the top of Europe’s Ryder Cup qualifying, which belatedly started at Wentworth, for next year’s match against the United States in Rome. Indeed, one of the first text messages of congratulations to Lowry was from Europe’s captain, Luke Donald: “I just checked my phone and there is a text off Luke, so I am very happy with that. One of my main goals will be to go to Rome next year and win back the Ryder Cup,” said Lowry.

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Lowry embellished an already honoured career CV — which was highlighted by that Claret Jug success at Royal Portrush in 2019, but also includes an Irish Open win as an amateur in 2009 and victory in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2015 — with a brilliantly executed success on a course where he has traditionally contended without ever winning. Until now.

“Even down the back nine today I was like, the bad shots I’ve hit over the years in contention started to creep into my mind. It is amazing what this game does, words can’t put into how happy I am to win,” said the 35-year-old Offalyman.

Rahm had set the target for those eyeing the sleek BMW trophy with a stunning final round 62, coming home in 29 strokes, and with 36-hole joint-leaders Viktor Hovland and Soren Kjeldsen struggling, Lowry and McIlroy emerged as the Spaniard’s main threats.

However, it wasn’t until the 54th and final hole that Lowry finally edged his way into the lead. A wonderful drive to the middle of the fairway left Lowry with a 217-yard approach to the flag on the par 5 and he struck a 5-iron to 20 feet. “Go, go,” Lowry had implored his ball in flight to the green, walking after it with a sense of purpose and knowing it was a great shot.

“You spend your whole career and your off-weeks and you spend your time practising and working on stuff to get into those positions and then you are there and it is not the nicest feeling in the world because there is so much pressure. I am playing some of the best golf of my life and I need to allow myself go out and hit the shots and that’s what I did and that’s what I did on 18, one of the best shots I have ever hit,” recalled Lowry.

Although the eagle putt came up a couple of rolls short of the cup, Lowry duly tapped in the birdie putt to claim the lead, and then waited to see how McIlroy, in the group behind, would do. And the Northern Irishman rose to the challenge in also hitting a superb approach shot, to 25 feet. But his eagle attempt to tie Lowry and force a play-off wiggled to the right at the death and remained stubbornly on the cup’s lip, refusing to drop.

McIlroy, seeking to add the DP World Tour Race to Dubai title to his recent FedEx Cup success on the PGA Tour, came up just a stroke short of his fellow Irishman and acknowledged of Lowry’s win: “Shane was putting together a sneakily good year without a win. I feel like he’s playing the most consistent golf of his career. I think he’s an improving player, he’s becoming a more well-rounded player. I see it at home (in Florida), I see it when he plays out (on tour). He deserves it, he’s been knocking on the door.”

Lowry’s win moved him to 19th in the world rankings and to fifth in the updated DP World Tour order of merit. And, of course, to number one on the European Ryder Cup qualifying table.