The perfect ending to a fairytale week for Irish golf

Shane Lowry woke up yesterday morning still not sure he had what it took to win a major but he finished the biggest day of his professional life with no-one more deserving of victory at the 148th Open Championship.

A home victor at Royal Portrush as the oldest major returned to the Antrim links for the first time in 68 years was the perfect ending to a fairytale week for Irish golf as the world’s best came to these shores, loved what they saw and were roared on by 237,750 fans, a record for an Open outside of St Andrews and one which will have romantics and bean counters alike pencilling in this venue for a return visit.

Even when the worst weather of the week visited on the final afternoon, the vociferous but respectful crowds would not be silenced and in Lowry they had their ideal focus.

The 32-year-old from Clara, Co. Offaly, son of an All-Ireland-winning hero and the only golfer in his school of footballers not only held onto his four-shot 54-hole lead, secured on the back of a remarkable third-round 63 on Saturday, he actually extended it to a six-shot victory margin as the chasing pack, led by England’s Tommy Fleetwood and including world number one Brooks Koepka, failed to mount a significant challenge or to match Lowry’s ability to play controlled golf in the teeth of gusting winds, driving rain and the huge weight of expectation.

To shoot a one-over-par 72 that none of his overnight rivals could match was a magnificent achievement,acclaimed by the hordes in a crowd littered with Tricolours on the 72nd hole as he nailed the tee shot to the fairway that ensured he would not be blowing his hard-earned lead over playing partner Fleetwood, a worthy runner-up and until last night a higher-ranked adversary.

With his win, Lowry should leap from 33 to 17 in the world standings this morning “I’m feeling unbelievably calm, to be honest, I don’t know why,” Lowry said as he sat looking at the Claret Jug, his lifetime’s ambition realised.

“It’s not going to sink in for a couple of days, is it?

“It’s just incredible to be sitting here with a trophy in front of me. 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.”

Yet after going to bed on that four-shot lead and having played so well for rounds of 67, 67 and 63, he had woken after a fitful sleep at 6:30am still uncertain as to whether he was capable of becoming the Champion Golfer of the Year. Perhaps it was the dark memory of losing a similar 54-hole lead in the 2016 US Open at Oakmont.

He and his trusted ally, coach Neil Manchip had talked that one through over and over, even on the eve of the tournament when Lowry, already a European Tour winner this season at Abu Dhabi and in the form of his life, had been struck by last-minute nerves. Manchip had talked his man down but on Saturday night the doubts returned.

“I suppose I didn’t even know going out this morning if I was good enough to win a major. I knew I was able to put a few days together. I knew I was able to play the golf course. I just went out there and tried to give my best. And I’m here now, a major champion. I can’t believe I’m saying it.

“I think the people around me really believed that I could, which helped me an awful lot. I do remember a lot of times in the past when I’m down on myself and have serious chats with Neil, he always reminded me, he always said that I was going to win one, at least one, he said. So I suppose when the people around you really believe in you, it helps.”

A wayward first tee shot from a clearly nervous leader might have had Lowry questioning himself again but he recovered well to post what turned out to be a very good bogey in the circumstances after Fleetwood failed to take advantage and missed his birdie putt.

Only one shot lost and three birdies between the fourth and seventh holes settled the nerves, giving Lowry a six-shot lead over the Englishman, though he would turn for home just the four ahead as the worst of the weather struck.

Though more birdies would follow, the conditions also hindered what remained of his rivals, Koepka and JB Holmes in the penultimate group failing to recover from horror starts, Lowry’s halfway co-leader Holmes succumbing to a nightmare round of 87 while four-time major champion Koepka was left reeling after four consecutive bogeys in as many holes.

As for Fleetwood, the killer blow was a double-bogey six at the 14th, again failing to make the most of a Lowry bogey and when the Irishman birdie the next hole, the victory procession had begun. Even if he felt victory was assured at 17, he saved his emotion for his stroll up the 18th, a hug with caddie Brian “Bo” Martin after his approach shot from the fairway safely touched down within two-putt range the signal for Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole! to ring around the 18th green grandstands.

It was quite the reception, made all the more special when Lowry spied not only his parents, wife Wendy and two-year-old daughter Iris but also his friends Pádraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell, major winners who paved the way for this latest member of their exclusive club.

I’m Irish. I grew up holing putts back home to win The Open. It was always The Open, wasn’t it? I watched Paddy win his two Opens. I didn’t even know him back then and now I’m very good friends with him. To have him there on the 18th, like you go into Paddy’s house and the Claret Jug is sitting on the kitchen table, and I’m going to have one on my kitchen table, as well.

Even more special given his very different emotions at the 2018 Open when Lowry sacked his caddie of nine years Dermot Byrne after a first-round 74 and then missed the cut.

“Carnoustie, that just shows how fickle golf is. Golf is a weird sport and you never know what’s around the corner. That’s why you need to remind yourself, and you need other people there to remind you. You need to fight through the bad times.

“I sat in the car park in Carnoustie on Thursday, almost a year ago right to this week, and I cried. Golf wasn’t my friend at the time. It was something that had become very stressful and it was weighing on me and I just didn’t like doing it. What a difference a year makes.”