Saint Shane — Lowry Thrills His Irish Nation, Wins Open

The anticipation at the 148th Open Championship was at a fever pitch on Sunday at Royal Portrush.

One of their own — Shane Lowry from down south in Tullamore, County Offaly, stepped on the first tee with the Claret Jug his to win or lose.

He would not disappoint.

It was as though Mother Ireland would send the elements to help her native son.

The wind and rain showed up on schedule with the intent of preventing birdies.  That’s exactly what transpired for most of the testy afternoon on the Dunluce course.  Scoring was difficult and there would be no low score runs at Shane.

Tommy Fleetwood had the best chance early.  Shane was in trouble after a poor drive and a worse second then a third from a greenside bunker that left him with eight feet for bogey.  Fleetwood was looking at seven-some feet for birdie.  Shane made, Tommy missed and that set the tone for the rest of the difficult round.  A possible three-shot swing was just one.  Lowry’s lead was cut from four to three but that’s as close as Fleetwood would get and no one else in the field came within shouting distance.  Not Brooks Koepka, not Justin Rose, not Rickie Fowler, certainly not J.B. (87) Holmes.

“It actually settled me down,” Lowry said of his opening bogey.  It must have, he came up with three birdies after that then bogeys at eight and nine but his lead grew to six shots after his even par outward nine.

The strongest of the rain and wind hit the final pairing on the early holes of the inward nine but Lowry would make no big mistakes — a pair of bogeys then a huge birdie at the 15th that basically sealed the deal and made the final three holes a victory march.

Darren Clarke opened this championship with the first tee shot on Thursday and Lowry ended it with a four-inch tap-in on the 72nd hole that made him Champion Golfer Of The Year.

With the Claret Jug in hand, he rejoiced in his closing 72 and a six-shot victory over Tony Finau and eight better than third-place Fleetwood.  The Jug-winning total was 269 — a whopping 15-under par on what looked all week like a perfect championship links course.

Lowry wrote a storybook finish to the championship that finally found its way back to Ireland after 68 years.  He wrote history, becoming the first Irishman to win the Open on Irish soil.

“It won’t sink in for a couple of days,” the smiling Lowry said with the iconic jug in front of him.  “Incredible feeling — hard to believe,” said the man who set the stage for victory with his Saturday 63 and an Open record 197 total for 54-holes.

“It was so hard out there,” Lowry said of the elements that helped protect him.  Indeed, no one in the final six groups broke par.  Finau’s 71 was the best.

There would be no challenge from Big Bad Brooks Koepka.  Four straight bogeys to start his day saw to that and after watching J.B. Holmes shoot 87, Koepka was fairly disgusted with Holmes slow play and his own 74.

Nothing bothered Lowry, not the rain, nor the wind.

“I started feeling comfortable after the 14th,” Lowry admitted.  “Even though I bogeyed 14, I played the last five holes incredibly well.  I hit my tee shot at 18 and started to enjoy it.  I just couldn’t believe it was happening to me.”

As he moved down 18, the huge crowds gathered behind him, an Open tradition.

“I tried to soak it in as much as I could but it was hard to soak it in because it was so surreal.”

Surreal but true.

Ireland’s native son, Shane Lowry, came through after Rory McIlroy exited the property on Friday.

Lowry’s week started on Wednesday with coffee and encouragement from his coach, Neil Manchip at the Bushmills Inn.

It ended on the 18th at Royal Portrush with roars of adoration and the Claret Jug in hand.

It’s what young Irish dreams are made of.

Final Open Championship Scoreboard: