Sometimes, it isn't all about actually winning. Rarely, for sure, but - this time - his failure to get his hands on the BMW PGA Championship trophy wasn't the be-all and end-all for Shane Lowry as, for the third straight day, he signed for a bogey-free round on the West Course: a finishing 69 for 277, 11-under-par, gave the Offalyman a share of sixth position and important momentum heading into one of the biggest weeks on the calendar. "I've got my mojo back now," he claimed.
As Byeong-hun An - or Ben, as he is known - put on a masteclass to become the first Asian to win the PGA European Tour’s flagship event, and Chris Wood maintained the remarkable run of holes-in-one over the four days to claim a beaming BMW i8, Lowry’s re-emergence as a challenger in big tournaments had him looking ahead to the upcoming Irish Open at Royal County Down with heightened expectations. The bounce is back in his step.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer and all that, but there was much to admire from Lowry’s final round efforts. He hit 11 of 14 fairways and found 15 of 18 greens-in-regulation; and the only blip, in truth, was a cool putter. In all, he took 32 putts - the most of his four rounds - as he failed to fully capitalise on those chances that would have seen him go on a true charge.
“I felt very in control of myself the last three days, just didn’t hole anything, which was the reason I wasn’t up there contending (for the trophy) . . . . my putter was a bit cold,” admitted Lowry, who managed only one birdie - on the Par 5 fourth - on the front nine.
His fate, as far as revving up the chase, was effectively sealed on the Par 5 12th where he hit a magnificent 5-iron approach from 205 yards for an eight-foot eagle opportunity. “I just misread it. I read it going left-to- right at the end, it went right-t- left. That seemed to be the story of my day, hitting decent putts, but them just not going in,” said Lowry, who managed another birdie on the Par 5 17th which ensured his best finish of the season so far. It earned him €162,500 and moved him from 42nd up to 30th on the latest Race to Dubai standings.
For Lowry - like the vast majority of the players at Wentworth, including the newest champion on tour An - the forward focus switches to the Irish Open. “I haven’t had momentum for a while and going in I am obviously going to put a lot of pressure on myself. I just need to let myself play golf. I am good enough to be contending week-in and week-out, I just need to keep telling myself that and to wait for things to happen. If I keep knocking on the doors, hopefully I will get a win soon. I would give anything for it to be at the Irish Open!” he said.
No matter how hard anyone knocked on the door, there would have been no opening. For, in truth, Ben An took this championship by the throat and made it his. The South Korean - a former US amateur champion and graduate of the Challenge Tour - went into the final round in a share of the lead with Italy’s Francesco Molinari but ran away from the Ryder Cupper as well as everyone else.
An shot a closing 65 to Molinari’s 74. It was no contest. An’s total of 267, for 21-underpar, constituted a championship record and gave him a six strokes winning margin over joint runners-up Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thongchai Jaidee. Wood, who aced the 14th en route to a closing 66 for 275, finished alone in fourth place.
Breaking records is nothing new for An, who was the youngest winner of the US Amateur title when he triumphed as a 17-year-old in 2009. Now 23 years of age, An’s maiden European Tour win just happened to come in the flagship event and netted him €833,330 and moved him to third behind Rory McIlroy and Danny Willett on the European Tour money list.
The highlight of An’s bogey-free finishing 65 - which featured an eagle and five birdies - that decimated the field came on the 12th, where he hit a 5-iron from 193 yards to a matter of inches for a tap-in eagle. Both of his parents won Olympic medals in table tennis at the 1988 Games in Seoul but An took a golfing route, which took him to the David Leadbetter Academy and victory in the US Amateur.
Of why it had taken him so long to make his professional breakthrough, An replied: “I wasn’t good enough, that’s probably the main thing to it. I played the Challenge Tour the last three years and it definitely prepared me for this big event on the main tour . . . . it seems like everything is working out the way I wanted.”
