Record-breaking Shane Lowry crushes field to claim his second Irish Open title
Shane Lowry celebrates with the Irish Open trophy. Picture: INPHO/Dan Clohessy
Shane Lowry has swept to his second Irish Open title with a record winning margin that usurps Bernhard Langer's ten-shot victory in Portmarnock 39 years ago.
He did it by stretching his lead to eleven with a 29-foot birdie putt on the last, two days after shooting a course record of 62, and on the back of a year where, he admitted, he has had to fight some demons.
This was all kinds of special for him.
The 2019 Open champion was cheered all the way up the 18th by an enormous crowd that broke into a chorus of olé, olés at one point. The bare facts will show that he shot a sublime six-under par 63 here for a tournament total of 23-under.
"This year has been quite difficult on the course for me," said Lowry.
"I had a few chances to win. To come here this week and do this, come on, I don't know, I just don't do things like half-measures. I can't believe I'm standing here on top of of the leaderboard. I said to my caddie, I didn't know how I was doing. I said to him on 15 after I holed that birdie putt, I said, how are we doing? Or how far ahead are we? He said far enough. So I was happy with that.
"A lot of things have went right for me but this has been the most spectacular week for me. It's just mad. I can't believe it. My mom was just standing there. My wife and my kids are back in Florida.
"When things are not going well at this level, it's hard at home as well but my wife has been a huge support and my kids, and they just... I love them so much. I'm so happy for them. I can't wait to bring a trophy home. My daughter is always asking, 'When are you going to bring a trophy home'? So I'm going to bring a trophy home."
Maybe most impressive of all was Lowry’s ability to shut out the noise that came with the presence of US president Donald Trump who, predictably, is on hand to present champion with the trophy on the 18th green at his eponymous premises.
Trump had already inserted himself centre stage on the first tee when Lowry and Jakob Skov Olesen prepared to start their rounds. He then gave an impromptu press briefing to political journalists to one side after the players made their way up the 1st fairway.
So it was that we had another surreal scene at this event with the US president briefing reporters on Irish unity (again), the dangers of AI, the Ukraine-Russia war and Federal interest rates while a golf tournament tried to go about its regular business.
There was no getting away from the First Family.
His son Eric Trump, flanked by a dozen people that included security, followed the golfers for some of their round as the enormous crowds dipped under ropes and scrambled up and down dunes in order to keep pace with the runaway leader.
Lowry was four shots ahead of Olesen at the start of play. That was out to six after just two holes with the Irishman birdieing the first and the Dane bogeying the second. There was never any sense of anything approaching a challenge or a threat all afternoon.
The Offaly man, who won this tournament as an amateur in 2009, carded four birdies and just the one bogey in the front nine. His form on the back stretch has been imperious all week and he negotiated that in four-under par this time to win at his ease.
It is Lowry’s first tournament victory since he won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event with Rory McIlroy in April of 2024, and the first on his own since the BMW PGA Championship this time four years ago.
It is also a rod off his back after he failed to close out the Cognizant Classic and Dubai Invitational tournaments at the start of the year while two promising Masters challenges faded away in 2026 and 2025.
He said as much in his interview just seconds after nailing one last putt.
Lowry had won The Open from the front when claiming his first and only major in Portrush in 2019 after a superb 63 on day three. He mirrored that here by shooting the course record 62 on the Friday and never relinquishing his grip thereafter.
A stunning performance.
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