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The 148th Open 2019 / Royal Portrush
It may have taken 68 years for The Open to return to Northern Ireland but it was more than worth the wait as home favourite Shane Lowry emerged triumphant at Royal Portrush.
The man from the island of Ireland provided a fitting conclusion to an historic week on the County Antrim coast, thrilling the partisan crowds en route to claiming the prestigious Claret Jug.
"It's just incredible to be sitting here with a trophy in front of me,” he said after his victory. “Look at the names on it. I couldn't believe that it was me. I couldn't believe it was happening.
“I thought about it all day but I didn't really let myself think about it until I hit my tee shot on 17. As soon as I hit that tee shot, I knew that I couldn't really lose a ball from there, and that's how I felt."
“I thought about it all day but I didn't really let myself think about it until I hit my tee shot on 17. As soon as I hit that tee shot, I knew that I couldn't really lose a ball from there, and that's how I felt."
“It’s an incredible feeling. I just went out there and tried to give my best. And look, I'm here now, a major champion. I can't believe I'm saying it, to be honest.” Shane lowry, 2019 champion golfer of the year
Lowry had flown under the radar in the build up to The 148th Open as Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy attracted all the attention.
But once honorary starter Clarke kicked off the first Open to be held outside mainland Great Britain since Portrush last hosted in 1951, the county Offaly native quickly came to the fore.
The 32-year-old, who had missed his last four cuts at The Open, went into the weekend with a share of the lead with American veteran JB Holmes after carding impressive back-to-back 67s.
He then landed a knockout blow on Saturday with a sensational bogey-free 63 – a course record for the new Portrush layout – to take a healthy four-shot advantage into the final round.
Lowry even had a birdie chance on the 18th to equal the lowest round in major history set by Branden Grace at Royal Birkdale in 2017 only for it to slide agonisingly left of the hole.
Nevertheless, one of the greatest rounds in Open history had put him on the brink of victory and captured the imagination of the Irish crowd as they roared him on every step of the way.
And having set a new 54-hole scoring record for The Open, Lowry held his nerve in the wind and rain on Sunday to see off the challenge of Tommy Fleetwood and be crowned Champion Golfer.
Images from The 148th Open
His final round of 72 was enough to complete a dominant six-shot victory over the Englishman, prompting the home support to swarm the 18th fairway to celebrate his memorable success.
Lowry was not the only player to write his name into the Open record books either, with Ryan Fox setting a back-nine record score at The Open of 29 with six birdies in seven holes on Thursday.
That day Emiliano Grillo also claimed the first hole-in-one at The Open since 2016 when he aced the 13th, but it was ultimately Lowry’s week as he soaked in the adulation from his maiden major win.
Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Lucas BJERREGAARD
T16
70
68
74
70
282
-2
Rory SABBATINI
T16
70
70
71
71
282
-2
Sang Hyun PARK
T16
69
72
68
73
282
-2
Doc REDMAN
T20
71
71
71
70
283
-1
Kiradech APHIBARNRAT
T32
68
73
77
67
285
1
Andrew Wilson
T32
76
67
71
71
285
1
Kyle STANLEY
T41
75
67
73
71
286
2
Benjamin HEBERT
T41
73
69
73
71
286
2
Innchoon Hwang
T41
72
71
70
73
286
2
Russell KNOX
T41
70
71
68
77
286
2
Charley HOFFMAN
T51
70
73
70
74
287
3
Ash TURNER
T57
69
74
77
68
288
4
Kevin STREELMAN
T57
77
65
74
72
288
4
Paul WARING
T63
75
68
75
71
289
5
Mikko Korhonen
T63
72
69
71
77
289
5
Yosuke Asaji
T67
72
71
71
76
290
6
JB HOLMES
T67
66
68
69
87
290
6
Nino Bertasio
T72
72
71
75
75
293
9
Yuki Inamori
T72
70
73
70
80
293
9
James Sugrue
m/c
71
73
-
-
-
M/C
Alex LEVY
m/c
73
71
-
-
-
M/C
Nate Lashley
m/c
75
69
-
-
-
M/C
Dong-Kyu JANG
m/c
76
69
-
-
-
M/C
Chez REAVIE
m/c
73
72
-
-
-
M/C
David LIPSKY
m/c
74
72
-
-
-
M/C
Patton KIZZIRE
m/c
73
73
-
-
-
M/C
Yoshinori FUJIMOTO
m/c
75
71
-
-
-
M/C
Doyeob Mun
m/c
74
72
-
-
-
M/C
Sung KANG
m/c
74
72
-
-
-
M/C
Matthew BALDWIN
m/c
78
68
-
-
-
M/C
Jack SENIOR
m/c
75
71
-
-
-
M/C
Jake McLeod
m/c
76
71
-
-
-
M/C
Brandon STONE
m/c
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
Robert ROCK
m/c
76
71
-
-
-
M/C
Isidro Benitez
m/c
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
Mikumu Horikawa
m/c
71
76
-
-
-
M/C
Joel Dahmen
m/c
76
72
-
-
-
M/C
Gunn Charoenkul
m/c
72
76
-
-
-
M/C
Ryan PALMER
m/c
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
Andrea Pavan
m/c
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
Mike LORENZO-VERA
m/c
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Yuta IKEDA
m/c
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Andy SULLIVAN
m/c
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Richard STERNE
m/c
78
73
-
-
-
M/C
Curtis Knipes
m/c
72
79
-
-
-
M/C
Garrick PORTEOUS
m/c
79
73
-
-
-
M/C
Austin CONNELLY
m/c
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
Prom MEESAWAT
m/c
73
81
-
-
-
M/C
Thomas Thurloway
m/c
83
73
-
-
-
M/C