Shane Lowry cruised to his second Amgen Irish Open title after making history with a record 11-shot victory at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel, Ireland, Doonbeg.
Related: Home boy Shane Lowry stays in command in Doonbeg
The 39-year-old held a four-shot advantage heading into the final round and posted a seven under par 63 to finish on 23 under and add more home soil success following his memorable win as an amateur in 2009 at County Louth.
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The 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year finished 11 clear of American Patrick Reed and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann as he eclipsed the largest margin of victory at the event set by Bernhard Langer at Portmarnock Golf Club in 1987 with a 29-foot birdie at the last.
He becomes the fifth player from the Republic of Ireland to win the Amgen Irish Open and first since his victory in 2009. It is also his seventh DP World Tour title in his 304th start, four years and two days since his last at the 2022 BMW PGA Championship.
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The trophy was presented to him by US President Donald Trump, the owner of the Doonbeg Estate, the first US President in history to attend a DP World Tour event.
Lowry sent a statement at the first with a 16-foot birdie – his tenth one-putt in a row – and when Jacob Skov Olesen bogeyed the next, the Irishman led by six.
The final group parred the next two holes, but Lowry’s advantage continued to grow when he rolled in another birdie at the fifth to reach 18 under.
Momentum was clearly with the home favourite and although he was on the fringe at the par-three seventh, Lowry drained the 43-foot putt for only the third birdie on the hole on Sunday.
Olesen could only par the next six holes after an opening bogey, and he was soon replaced as the leader’s nearest rival thanks to Reed’s birdie blitz.
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The American, who leads the Race to Dubai Rankings delivered by DP World, birdied the third, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth and tenth to climb up to 12 under.
He still remained seven shots back, but only for a matter of minutes as Lowry added another gain at the eighth to become the first player at 20 under.
Lowry finished his front nine with only his sixth dropped shot of the week, however, he bounced back with a tap-in birdie at the tenth to regain his eight-shot lead.
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It soon became ten in front thanks to a brilliant tee-shot into the par-three 14th for another birdie before adding a 44-foot effort from the fringe at the next.
He lipped out his second at the par-three 16th and finished with a magical putt at the last to complete a brilliant triumph on home soil.
Reed could not add to his early burst as he parred his final eight holes to finish on 12 under, with Niemann mixing four birdies and a dropped shot to also reach that mark.
Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen carded an eagle and five birdies in his blemish-free 63 to sit in solo fourth at 11 under.
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Italian Gregorio De Leo was also flawless in his 63 to sit one shot back with Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin, while England’s Alex Fitzpatrick and Olesen were in seventh at nine under and Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson and Swede Jens Dantorp one stroke further adrift.
As well as a seventh DP World Tour crown, Lowry also took home $30,000 for the Course Record presented by Nexo with his eight under par 62 in round two.
Player Quotes
Shane Lowry: This year has been quite difficult on the course for me. I had a few chances to win. To come here this week and do this, come on, I don’t know, I just don’t do things like half-measures. I can’t believe I’m standing here on top of the leaderboard. I said to my caddie, I didn’t know how I was doing. I said to him on 15 after I holed that birdie putt, I said, how are we doing? Or how far ahead are we? He said far enough. So I was happy with that.
A lot of things have went right for me but this has been the most spectacular week for me. It’s just mad. I can’t believe it. My mom was just standing there. I have my wife and my kids are back in Florida.
Like it’s been hard when things are not going well at this level. It’s hard at home as well but my wife has been a huge support and my kids, and I love them so much. I’m so happy for them. I can’t wait to bring a trophy home. My daughter is always asking, when are you going to bring a trophy home. So I’m going to bring a trophy home.
I said walking down the last obviously Portrush was incredible, last year was incredible, and I feel like I can’t better it, but look at this.
I sat last week at Croke Park watching Katie Taylor, with almost a little bit of jealousy what she was achieving and getting to do it in front of her home fans, and I get to do it this week. This is incredible. I’m so happy.
It means a lot. Honestly I’m speechless. It’s hard to talk. I just can’t believe I’ve just done that and done it the way I’ve done it, as well. You know, I’ve had to fight a few demons off over the past few months on the course when you get yourself into contention. I did take some time away the last few weeks. I worked pretty hard. I got all my team over to Florida and we worked hard, and this just shows you what hard work can do.
