Shane Lowry (golfer)

Shane Lowry (born 2 April 1987) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. His notable achievements include winning the 2019 Open Championship, the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, and the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Shane Lowry
Lowry at the 2010 KLM Open
Personal information
Full nameShane Lowry
Born (1987-04-02) 2 April 1987
Clara, County Offaly, Ireland[1]
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight225 lb (102 kg; 16.1 st)
Nationality Ireland
ResidenceJupiter, Florida
SpouseWendy Honner (2016)
Children1
Career
CollegeAthlone Institute of Technology
Turned professional2009
Current tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking16 (2 February 2020)[2]
(as of 7 February 2021)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour2
European Tour5
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentT25: 2020
PGA ChampionshipT8: 2019
U.S. OpenT2: 2016
The Open ChampionshipWon: 2019

Background

Born in the Midlands Regional Hospital, Mullingar, County Westmeath,[1] Lowry grew up in Clara, County Offaly. He is the son of Offaly 1982 All-Ireland winning footballer Brendan Lowry.[3]

Amateur career
Lowry after winning the 2009 Irish Open at County Louth Golf Club

Lowry learned his early golf at Esker Hills Golf Club, where he began his amateur career.[4] He attended Athlone Institute of Technology as a scholarship student on the Higher Certificate in Sport and Recreation.

Lowry was the 2007 Irish Amateur Close Champion, defeating Niall Turner 4 & 3 in the final.[5] While still an amateur in May 2009, he won The Irish Open at County Louth Golf Club on the European Tour, defeating Robert Rock on the third hole of a sudden death playoff. The win, on his tour début, made him just the third amateur to win on the European Tour,[6] following Danny Lee earlier in the 2009 season, and Pablo Martín in 2007. Lowry shot a 62 to equal the lowest ever by an amateur on the circuit and led from the second round onwards.[7]

With this win, he entered the Official World Golf Ranking as an amateur at No. 168[8] and reached a career high of sixth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.[9] Walker Cup captain Colin Dagleish described the win as "fairytale stuff", adding: "You'd have to say that Shane's victory was the biggest (of the three amateur wins). To win your own national Open is quite something. It was unbelievable, it really was."[7] The win was only the second home victory since 1982 and the first since Pádraig Harrington in 2007.[7] Harrington himself was also full of praise: "It's fabulous for Irish golf. You only have to look at the fact it is such a rarity for an amateur to win, such a rarity for an Irish player to win the Irish Open. So, on a lot of fronts, it is a big deal. It was very impressive."[10]

Professional career

Lowry elected to turn professional the week after his Irish Open triumph, meaning that he would miss out on the opportunity to play in the Walker Cup in September 2009.[11] He made his professional début on 28 May at the European Open, where he shot 78 in the first round to end the opening day almost at the back of the field, and went on to miss the cut following a second round 73.[12]

Lowry missed the first three cuts of his professional career, but had his first payday on 5 July, when he finished 50th at the Open de France Alstom.[13] He had his best professional result in 2009 in November, when he finished 3rd in the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan.[14] In January 2010, Lowry finished in fourth place in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship,[15] moving him into the top-100 of the Official World Golf Ranking.[16]

In June 2010, Lowry qualified for his first major championship, the Open Championship at St Andrews. During the qualification, Lowry equalled Nick Faldo's course record at Sunningdale when he posted a 62. Lowry went on to make the cut at St Andrews and eventually finished in a tie for 37th place.

Lowry won for the first time as a professional in 2012, at the Portugal Masters in October. He shot a 67 to tie for the lead with the Englishman Ross Fisher, who made bogey on the final hole after missing a four-foot putt. The victory lifted Lowry back into the Official World Golf Ranking top 100 and made him eligible to compete in the WGC-HSBC Champions.

In 2014, Lowry was runner-up at the BMW PGA Championship in May and later tied for ninth at the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake), his best finish at a major.[17]

In August 2015, Lowry won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in the United States at Firestone in Akron, Ohio, two strokes ahead of runner-up Bubba Watson.[18][19] Lowry accepted PGA Tour membership for the 2015–16 season.

At the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, Lowry shot 65 (−5) in the third round for 203 (−7) and a four-stroke advantage over Dustin Johnson and Andrew Landry at the 54-hole stage. The 65 was Lowry's joint career best round at a major championship. Due to weather delays on Thursday, the third round was not completed until early on Sunday, and Lowry birdied two of his remaining four holes to extend his two stroke overnight lead to four. In the final round he was in contention for the title, within one shot of Dustin Johnson after 12 holes, before three consecutive bogeys on holes 14, 15 and 16 ended his chances. He finished the tournament tied for second place, with a final round score of 76.

Lowry did not win on the European Tour from 2016 to 2018 but was joint runner-up in the 2017 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and runner-up in the 2018 Andalucía Valderrama Masters. In January 2019 he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship by a stroke from Richard Sterne. Lowry led by 3 strokes after three rounds but was two-over-par after 11 holes of his final round and dropped 4 shots behind Sterne. However he finished with 3 birdies in the final 7 holes, while Sterne had two bogeys, giving Lowry the victory.[20]

Lowry started the 2018–19 season with partial status after finishing 140th in the FedEx Cup. He moved into a share of the 36-hole lead at the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, after successive opening rounds of 67. He was tied at eight under with J. B. Holmes. Lowry then shot a 63 for a new course record to lead by four strokes at the end of the third round.[21] He won the tournament by six shots ahead of Tommy Fleetwood.[22][23][24]

Personal life

Lowry married Wendy Honner in 2016 and has one daughter, Iris, born in March 2017.[25]

Amateur wins
  • 2007 Irish Amateur Close Championship
  • 2008 West of Ireland Championship, North of Ireland Championship, Mullingar Scratch Cup
  • 2009 Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (2)
Legend
Major championships (1)
World Golf Championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (0)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 9 Aug 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 70-66-67-66=269 −11 2 strokes Bubba Watson
2 21 Jul 2019 The Open Championship 67-67-63-72=269 −15 6 strokes Tommy Fleetwood

European Tour wins (5)
Legend
Major championships (1)
World Golf Championships (1)
Rolex Series (1)
Other European Tour (2)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 17 May 2009 3 Irish Open
(as an amateur)		 67-62-71-71=271 −17 Playoff Robert Rock
2 14 Oct 2012 Portugal Masters 67-70-67-66=270 −14 1 stroke Ross Fisher
3 9 Aug 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 70-66-67-66=269 −11 2 strokes Bubba Watson
4 19 Jan 2019 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 62-70-67-71=270 −18 1 stroke Richard Sterne
5 21 Jul 2019 The Open Championship 67-67-63-72=269 −15 6 strokes Tommy Fleetwood

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2009 3 Irish Open
(as an amateur)		 Robert Rock Won with par on third extra hole

Major championships

Wins (1)
YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
2019The Open Championship4 shot lead−15 (67-67-63-72=269)6 strokes Tommy Fleetwood

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 201020112012201320142015201620172018
Masters Tournament CUT T39 CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT T9 T2 T46 CUT
The Open Championship T37 T32 T9 CUT CUT CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT T57 T46 CUT CUT T48 T12
Tournament 20192020
Masters Tournament CUT T25
PGA Championship T8 T66
U.S. Open T28 T43
The Open Championship 1 NT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00000152
PGA Championship00001296
U.S. Open01012285
The Open Championship10012284
Totals1102573017
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2019 PGA – 2020 Masters, current)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

Results in The Players Championship
Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
The Players Championship CUT T16 CUT T46 CUT

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)
YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2 shot deficit −11 (70-66-67-66=269) 2 strokes Bubba Watson

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020
Championship T17 T35 T62 T29
Match Play R16 T34 T51 T51 T24 NT1
Invitational 77 T48 1 T36 T6
Champions T28 32 34 T68 T23 T43 NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

References
  1. "Shane Lowry – Bio". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  2. "Week 5 2020 Ending 2 Feb 2020" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  3. "Shane Lowry is getting used to being the top man". Irish Times. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  4. "Hills alive with success of local hero Shane". Irish Examiner. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  5. "Lowry wins Irish Amateur Close". RTÉ Sport. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  6. "Lowry claims Irish Open title". RTÉ Sport. 17 May 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  7. "Lowry ponders his options". RTÉ Sport. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  8. "Lowry enters rankings". Sky Sports. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  9. Walker Cup squad members prove luck of the Irish World Amateur Golf Ranking, 20 May 2009
  10. "Harrington takes the long view". Irish Times. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  11. "Lowry opts to turn professional". BBC Sport. 21 May 2009.
  12. "Lowry left all at sea". The Belfast Telegraph. 30 May 2009.
  13. "Lowry claws way onto money trail". Irish Independent. 6 July 2009.
  14. "Lowry third as Molinari wins Dunlop Phoenix". RTÉ Sport. 22 November 2009.
  15. "Mixed emotions for Lowry and McIlroy". Irish Times. 25 January 2010.
  16. "Official World Golf Ranking, Week 4, 24 January 2010" (PDF).
  17. "Shane Lowry claims he can be future Open champion after sizzling 65". Irish Independent. 20 July 2014.
  18. "'Can't put into words how I'm feeling' – Ecstatic Shane Lowry on €1.45m Bridgestone Invitation success". Irish Independent. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  19. "Sensational Shane Lowry claimed the biggest win of his career tonight". The 42. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  20. "Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship: Shane Lowry clinches one-shot victory". BBC Sport. 19 January 2019.
  21. Murray, Ewan (20 July 2019). "Shane Lowry storms to four-shot Open lead after emerging from almighty scrap". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  22. Rose, Gary (21 July 2019). "The Open 2019: Shane Lowry's Royal Portrush win seals first major". BBC Sport.
  23. Murray, Ewan (21 July 2019). "Ireland's Shane Lowry stays calm to win first major at the Open as rivals fade". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  24. Anderson, Nicola (24 July 2019). "Home again for Shane Lowry: Clara welcomes the 'Offaly Rover' who won the Open". Irish Independent. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  25. "Shane Lowry and wife Wendy Honner family photos". Golf.com. 21 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
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