With the minds games mastered, Shane gets chance to show off his genius

He had been here before. As recently as 2016 in fact, when he held a four-shot lead going into the final round of the US Open at Oakmont, but this was different, or so he claimed. Older, more mature and now the married father of a two-year-old daughter, life had indeed moved on outside the ropes but what about his golf game?

I got my first real glimpse of Shane Lowry the golfer, from the commentary booth in 2009, when winning the Irish Open while still an amateur. As impressive as his performance was that day, what struck me most was that despite the poor weather conditions and enormity of what was unfolding, he continued to play all the right shots at a time when many of the more seasoned players around him were, in the foul weather conditions, looking for excuses.