Shane Lowry sets his sights even higher

Six years after sitting disconsolately in his hotel room in Akron wondering if he had the game to play on tour, Shane Lowry stands on top of the world safe in the knowledge that he’s now a man to be feared.

In fact, the new world No 19 began life as a World Golf Championship winner Sunday by setting his sights on Rory McIlroy’s Race to Dubai crown and his first major title in this week’s US PGA.

There was no wild party for a larger than life character who has transformed himself over the last two years into a player capable of just about anything in the game, just a few beers with the likes of Pádraig Harrington and the caddies.