Shane Lowry laps it up in Phoenix as 600,000 fans put on the pressure

Darren Clarke might have missed Shane Lowry revving up the crowd at the Waste Management Phoenix Open but if the European Ryder Cup skipper was looking for a sign the Clara man is up for a fight in September, he got it on Sunday.

The world No 21 arrived at the signature 16th making a late run at what turned out to be a tied sixth finish at TPC Scottsdale, and another raft of Ryder Cup qualifying points via the world rankings.

But it wasn’t the five birdies in the last seven holes that caught the eye but the way Lowry took on the US crowd and produced a birdie to order in an event where Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama beat Rickie Fowler at the fourth extra hole in front of record crowds.

With 20,000 fans at the 16th chanting U-S-A, U-S-A and ready to jeer him if he repeated his third round bogey, the Offaly star whipped a nine iron in to 15 feet and as chants to U-S-A continued as he hulked over the putt, Lowry stroked it towards the hole and dared to turn away, cupping his hand to his ear in expectation.

For a moment it appeared it might come up short, or miss left and Lowry nervously peeked back to see it would drop before it caught the side door and eventually fell into the hole to a huge roar.

His “let me hear you” gesture brought back memories of Patrick Reed’s shushing finger on the final day of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles two years ago.

And Lowry is plainly determined to embrace his status as the sixth highest ranked European in the world and become a Ryder Cup stalwart.

“On the 16th we had 173 and you are so pumped up it was only a nice nine-iron for me,” Lowry said of a birdie that helped him post a closing 68 worth $203,450 and a share of sixth place in an event that drew 65,330 fans on Sunday, pushing the weekly total to a record 618,365.

That shattered the mark of 564,368 set last year, and with 201,003 attending on Saturday and 160,415 on Friday, Lowry was determined not to give the Americans an excuse to boo him at the 16th on Sunday.

“It was the best shot I hit in there all week, just right of the target and the green slopes right to left so I got it down there to about 15 feet,” he said.

“Then, just as I was settling over my putt, I heard the crowd in the grandstand chanting USA so that’s what I gave it a bit of that and hopefully I get to do that in September again.”

He is clearly growing in confidence and the Ryder Cup atmosphere could well suit the showman that lurks within him.

“Yesterday afternoon was just wild,” he said. “I don’t know how to describe it. It was like a music festival or something. It definitely wasn’t like a golf tournament. It’s amazing.

“I said to [my caddie’] Dermot walking around today, to say you have played in front of 200,000 people is pretty cool. It’s been a great week and I week won’t be missing again.”

While he let the tournament ebb away with a 72 on Saturday and slow start on Sunday, he’s hoping to hit form for 72 holes and challenge for this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he will be joined by Pádraig Harrington and Paul Dunne, both of whom missed the cut in Scottsdale.

As for the Phoenix Open, playoff winner Hideki Matsuyama rose seven places to 12th in the world, one place ahead of Omega Dubai Desert Classic winner Danny Willett, while Rickie Fowler remained fourth behind Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day.