Shane Lowry Now Nineteen

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Shane Lowry heads into this week’s US PGA Championship at a career-high 19th in the world after claiming the biggest victory of his career in brilliant fashion in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Lowry carded a flawless final round of 66 at Firestone Country Club to finish 11 under par, two shots ahead of double Masters champion Bubba Watson, with former US Open champions Justin Rose and Jim Furyk another two shots back.

“It’s hard to believe but I played good today,” Lowry told Sky Sports 4. “I was quite nervous out there towards the end but made a lot of good decisions, hit the ball well and got a bit of luck as well which was nice.

“It’s great to be able to pull something off. I was kind of doubting myself a little this year, things haven’t been going my way but when you come out the other end it’s always nice.”

Lowry began the final round two shots off the lead but wiped out the deficit with birdies on the second and eighth before a spectacular recovery over the trees on the 10th set up another from two feet.

That gave the 28-year-old a two-shot lead and although Watson twice closed within a shot, Lowry found himself needing to par the last two holes for victory.

After his approach to the 17th ran up against the collar of rough Lowry produced an excellent chip and held his nerve to hole from five feet, but looked to be in trouble when he pulled his tee shot on the last into the trees.

However, the former Irish Open champion – he was still an amateur when he won the title in 2009 – found a good lie in the rough and powered a wedge over the trees to 11 feet, from where he holed for a birdie to make certain of the first prize of 1,570,000 US dollars.

“I was trying to get it on the front right of the green but pulled it a little bit, it went through the tree and rest is history,” added Lowry, who missed the cut on his US PGA debut at Whistling Straits in 2010.

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Lowry Wins WGC-Bridgestone

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Shane Lowry shot a flawless final round of 66 to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron and claim his third European Tour title.

The Irishman fired four birdies on Sunday to finish the tournament on 11 under par, two shots ahead of two time Major Champion Bubba Watson.

Lowry began the final round at Firestone Country Club two shots off the lead held by overnight co-leaders Justin Rose and Jim Furyk, but he wiped out the deficit with birdies on the second and eighth holes.

The 28 year old began his back nine with a birdie on the tenth to take a two shot lead over the chasing pack on ten under par.

Furyk went within a shot of Lowry when he sank his five foot birdie putt on the 11th, only to bogey the next and drop back to eight under.

Lowry maintained his two shot advantage with a superb par save from 20 feet on the 14th after finding a fairway bunker off the tee.

Lowry's lead was cut to one shot when Watson fired his sixth birdie of the day at the 17th to go to nine under par.

But he held his nerve and went 11 under par when he sank his six foot putt at the last to win his first WGC title.

Rose and Furyk finished in a share of third place on seven under, with Robert Streb one shot further back.

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Shane Second in Akron

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Shane Lowry Firestoned Akron with a second round 66 to sit four behind outright leader Jim Furyk’s to seize a share of second at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Lowry signed for a four under par card and remains in the chase alongside Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson.

A booming 300 yard drive down the 11th left an approach of just 111 yards and he would spin that in to six feet to roll in the birdie that moved him into second place on his own.

It was the 14th however that possibly proved to be Lowry’s key hole. A misjudged second shot saw his ball scuttle into the bunker at the back of the green but from there he would flip it out to 10 feet before rolling in a crucial, clutch par putt.

That save would give him the momentum to find the back of the par three 15th green from where he rolled in a long birdie putt to close the gap yet further on Jim Furyk.

Pars at the 16th and the 17th saw him go to the final hole three behind the lead. However, a bogey there after his second shot flew the green meant that he signed for a 66 and had to settle for a total of four under par going into the weekend.

It could have all been even better as well, were it not for a short missed par putt at the ninth, his last. That bogey came after three birdies in four holes, including a beautifully played flop shot at the fifth which found the bottom of the cup for a two.

Graeme McDowell battled hard to remain in contention as he looks to improve on a dismal season so far.

As steady starts go McDowell had the steadiest of all, opening with 10 straight pars as he played the course the opposite way around.

However, trouble around the green at the 11th would see the 2010 US Open card a six and drop back a shot.

A birdie two holes later at the fourth, thanks to an exquisite approach to two feet, was nullified by a bogey at the sixth.

Three straight pars to finish the round was enough to see the 36-year-old sign for a one over par 71, leaving him nicely placed going into the weekend.

For Padraig Harrington it was a second successive two over par 72 as he failed to get any sort of birdie run together.

Level par for the round going to the 13th Harrington would fail to make par and followed that bogey up with another at the 14th to slip back to four over for the tournament.

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McIlroy Whistling on Saturday

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Rory McIlroy has scheduled a practice round for Saturday at Whistling Straits, site of next week’s US PGA, a reliable source told Reuters on Monday.

The world No1 has not played since rupturing the anterior ligament in his left ankle early last month, an injury that prevented him from defending his Open title at St Andrews.

McIlroy’s manager, Sean O’Flaherty, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

News that the four-times major champion plans to play on the Wisconsin course this weekend is the first indication that he may defend his title at the US PGA, which starts on Thursday week.

McIlroy, 26, won last year’s event by one stroke at Valhalla in Kentucky. He has ruled himself out of this week’s World Golf Championship event in Akron, Ohio.

An employee at Whistling Straits told Reuters he was not allowed to comment on scheduled practice rounds by players before the championship.

Some medical experts said the injury suffered by McIlroy normally takes about 12 weeks to heal.

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Lowry Firestone Putts Costly

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Shane Lowry let slip valuable strokes in the closing two holes on the opening day of the WGC–Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.

Lowry was just a shot from the lead heading to his 17th before ending three shots behind clubhouse leader Rickie Fowler who carded a three-under-par 67 and less than a week after grabbing second place in last week’s Quicken Loans Open.

The Claraman was on the practice putting green despite recording a respectable 29 putts in his ninth round of the Firestone Country Club layout.

“I actually made the course look easy today and apart from the last hole, I hit the ball the best I’ve hit it for a long while,” said Lowry.

“So I am actually quite disappointed with that score as I also putted poorly and I will work on that aspect of my game this afternoon.

“I know that if I can get my putting sorted out I can do something really well these next two weeks.

“I haven’t dabbled in changing putters, so I am just sticking with the same one but in saying that it’s always about seeing the ball going in the hole.

“The sad thing out there today was that I was sand wedges into several of the holes, a lob-wedge into 11, a 9-iron into 13, a sand iron into 14, 16 and 17, and also the last so I am giving myself so many chances.”

“So while level I guess it’s a good score, if someone was to go out there and shoot five under then that would be a great score.”

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McIlroy in Major Miss Two

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Rory McIlroy will not be fit for next week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio.

The reigning champion has told organisers he will not be defending his title at the Firestone Country Club as he continues his recovery from a ruptured ankle ligament.

McIlroy's short statement made no mention of when he might return from the injury, suffered during a kickabout with friends earlier this month.

The damage has already prevented him defending his Open Championship title, and the latest withdrawal will raise further question marks about the likelihood of the world No 1 playing the season's final major - the USPGA at Whistling Straits next month.

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At the time of his Open withdrawal McIlroy said only that he was taking a "long-term view" and hoped to return "as soon as I can".

In a short statement he said: "Unfortunately I will not be defending my title. Best of luck to the rest of the competitors and I look forward to returning to Firestone in 2016."

And tournament officials have announced that four-time PGA Tour winner Chris Kirk will not compete in Akron after failing to recover from the broken hand he suffered while playing with his children before the Open Championship.

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