TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW

19 20

IMAGES: ALAMY; PGA TOUR

HOW SHANE LOWRY WON Ireland’s Shane Lowry claimed the title when The Open Championship returned to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years at Royal Portrush. Lowry took a fourstroke lead into the final round thanks to third-round 63. After three days of relatively low scoring, conditions toughened on Sunday with wind and rain. With the weather worsening later in the day, the last 24 starters didn’t break par and Lowry won by six strokes with a 1-over par 72. Lowry moved ahead by six strokes with three birdies in a four-hole stretch starting at the fourth. Despite bogeys on three of the next four holes, he never led by less than four strokes the rest of the way. Lowry opened the tournament with a 67 to trail by one stroke and after another 67 shared the 36-hole lead with J.B. Holmes. On Saturday, Lowry shot 30 on the back nine for his 63, with birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 17.  Lowry shot 31 on the front nine of the second round, with birdies on four of the first five holes.  Lowry ranked first in Greens in Regulation Percentage at 79.17 percent. He hit 17 greens in the third round.  Lowry ranked third in Scrambling, saving par on 73.3 percent of his missed greens. W W W.P GAT OUR.COM

T31_Open Championship_v3.indd 153

CHECK THIS OUT  Shane Lowry’s six-stroke victory margin was the largest at The Open Championship since Louis Oosthuizen won by seven in 2010.  Lowry’s 54-hole total of 197 set an Open Championship record, and matched the second best ever at a major (David Toms, 196, in the 2001 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club).  Lowry’s 63 in the third round was one off the Open Championship record (Branden Grace, 62,

2017) and was the 12th round of 63 in the event.  Lowry became the first player to collect his first two PGA TOUR victories at a major and a World Golf Championships event (2015 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational).  Lowry, who won the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur, joined four others as winners of the Irish Open and The Open since 1960 (Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy).

LEADERBOARD 2019 Player

Pos

1

2

3

4

Total Score

FedExCup

Earnings

Shane Lowry

1

67

67

63

72

269/-15

600

$1,935,000

Tommy Fleetwood

2

68

67

66

74

275/-9

330

$1,120,000

Tony Finau

3

68

70

68

71

277/-7

210

$718,000

Brooks Koepka

T4

68

69

67

74

278/-6

135

$503,500

Lee Westwood

T4

68

67

70

73

278/-6

$503,500

“It’s where you want to be as a golfer, I hope I’m in that situation again ...”

JUNE – DECEMBER 2021 PGA TOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE

153

05/07/2021 12:03