Shane Lowry (golfer)

Shane Lowry
— Golfer —

Lowry in 2009
Personal information
Full name Shane Lowry
Born (1987-04-02) 2 April 1987
Clara, County Offaly, Ireland
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 225 lb (102 kg; 16.1 st)
Nationality  Ireland
Residence Clara, County Offaly, Ireland
Spouse Wendy Honner (2016)
Career
College Athlone Institute of Technology
Turned professional 2009
Current tour(s) European Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins 3
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 1
European Tour 3
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T39: 2016
U.S. Open T2: 2016
The Open Championship T9: 2014
PGA Championship T46: 2014

Shane Lowry (born 2 April 1987) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and PGA Tour. His notable achievements include winning the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, winning the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and finishing as runner-up in the 2016 U.S. Open.

Amateur career

Born in Clara, County Offaly, Lowry is the son of Offaly 1982 All-Ireland winning footballer Brendan Lowry.[1] He learned his early golf at Esker Hills Golf Club, where he began his amateur career.[2] 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.[3] While still an amateur in May 2009, he won The Irish Open 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,[4] 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.[5]

With this win, he entered the Official World Golf Ranking as an amateur at No. 168[6] and reached a career high of 6th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.[7] 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."[5] The win was all the more remarkable because it was only the second home win since 1982 and the first since Pádraig Harrington in 2007.[5] 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."[8]

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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] He had his best professional result in November 2009, when he finished 3rd in the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan.[12] In January 2010, Lowry finished in fourth place in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship,[13] moving him into the top-100 of the Official World Golf Ranking.[14]

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 elevated Lowry up to 74th in the Official World Golf Ranking and made him eligible to compete in the WGC-HSBC Champions.

In 2014, Lowry was runner-up at the BMW PGA Championship in May to claim the biggest cheque of his career, then tied for ninth at the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake), his best finish at a major.[15]

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.[16][17] 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. The 65 was Lowry's joint career best round at a major championship. Due to weather delays on Thursday, the third round was completed early on Sunday, and Lowry birdied two of his remaining four holes to extend his lead. 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.

Amateur wins (5)

Professional wins (3)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No. DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 9 Aug 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 70-66-67-66=269 −11 2 strokes United States Bubba Watson

European Tour wins (3)

Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
Other European Tour events (2)
No. DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 17 May 2009 The 3 Irish Open
(as an amateur)		 67-62-71-71=271 −17 Playoff England Robert Rock
2 14 Oct 2012 Portugal Masters 67-70-67-66=270 −14 1 stroke England Ross Fisher
3 9 Aug 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 70-66-67-66=269 −11 2 strokes United States Bubba Watson

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2009 The 3 Irish Open England Robert Rock Won with par on third extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT T39
U.S. Open DNP CUT DNP DNP CUT T9 T2
The Open Championship T37 DNP DNP T32 T9 CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT DNP DNP T57 T46 CUT CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
U.S. Open 0 1 0 1 2 2 4 2
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 3
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2
Totals 0 1 0 1 3 3 16 8

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreTo parMarginRunner-up
2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2 shot deficit 70-66-67-66=269 −11 2 strokes United States Bubba Watson

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament20092010201120122013201420152016
Cadillac Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T17 T35
Dell Match Play DNP DNP DNP DNP R16 DNP T34 T51
Bridgestone Invitational 77 DNP DNP DNP T48 DNP 1 T36
HSBC Champions T28 DNP DNP 32 DNP 34 T68 T23

DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

References

  1. ↑ "Shane Lowry is getting used to being the top man". Irish Times. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  2. ↑ "Hills alive with success of local hero Shane". Irish Examiner. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "Lowry wins Irish Amateur Close". RTÉ. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  4. ↑ "Lowry claims Irish Open title". RTÉ. 17 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 "Lowry ponders his options". RTÉ. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  6. ↑ "Lowry enters rankings". Sky Sports. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  7. ↑ Walker Cup squad members prove luck of the Irish, 20 May 2009
  8. ↑ "Harrington takes the long view". Irish Times. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  9. ↑ "Lowry opts to turn professional". BBC Spor t. 21 May 2009.
  10. ↑ "Lowry left all at sea". The Belfast Telegraph. 30 May 2009.
  11. ↑ "Lowry claws way onto money trail". Irish Independent. 6 July 2009.
  12. ↑ "Lowry third as Molinari wins Dunlop Phoenix". RTÉ Sport. 22 November 2009.
  13. ↑ "Mixed emotions for Lowry and McIlroy". Irish Times. 25 January 2010.
  14. ↑ "Official World Golf Rankings, Week 4, 24 January 2010" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "Shane Lowry claims he can be future Open champion after sizzling 65". Irish Independent. 20 July 2014.
  16. ↑ "'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.
  17. ↑ "Sensational Shane Lowry claimed the biggest win of his career tonight". The 42. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
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