Lowry holds nerves to seal maiden Open triumph

Over the last thirty years I have been fortunate enough to play all the great golf links of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1998 our annual six day tour headed to Ulster finishing in Portrush and its famous Dunluce Links. Our tours seemed to take a macabre pleasure in saving the most difficult track until last and in this regard Royal Portrush fulfilled its role. The course itself was tough enough but in 1998, following a summer of heavy rain, the rough was incredibly thick. A wayward shot and your ball was all but lost. Undeterred we had our traditional Stableford and as I walked off the ninth green it was not difficult adding up my total of five points. Over the back nine Portrush quaked under my fightback a creditable 13 giving me 18 in total. The winner managed 24. It was a beautiful day with nary a zephyr yet we had all been cowed.

As Shane Lowry battled his way around those self same links in today’s final round of the Open Championship those 18 points put the enormity of his achievement into perspective. For not only was he playing a course that was considerably longer than the one we had faced but he did so during an hour long squall that transformed it into a monster. And if that weren’t enough he had the added pressure of trying to win his maiden major with the hopes of a nation riding on his shoulders. Many would have wilted under the strain. But not Lowry whose exquisite shot making and touch around the greens sealed a deserved five shot victory from a distant chasing pack lead by Southport’s Tommy Fleetwood.

Lowry’s afternoon got off to a somewhat shaky start with a pulled tee shot at the opening hole. He could however be forgiven, for the first at Portrush serves up a unique challenge, white out of bounds markers straddling either side of the fairway. It was of course here that Rory McIlroy’s Open campaign began and ended and where others, amongst them Ricky Fowler and John Rahm, would have their hopes dented. Lowry followed his drive by finding a bunker, came up short with his escape and then left himself a six foot putt for a bogey. Meanwhile playing partner Fleetwood arrowed his approach to eight feet only to see his birdie attempt dribble wide. By contrast Lowry confidently holed his six footer to settle nerves and that set the tone for the grind of the next five hours. There were a couple of wobbles as he dropped shots at eleven and fourteen. But the cream of the golfing world were heading backwards and with his closest rival Fleetwood unable to control a hook that tends to affect his game adversely when in the heat of the kitchen, nobody managed to get within four strokes of Lowry’s lead.

And by the time he stood on the 18th tee that lead had been extended to five, a luxury rarely bestowed on first time major winners. His walk down the final hole was a joyous affair made all the more pleasurable by sealing victory with a cast iron four and a final round of 72, just one over par. Other than Tony Finau, who shot a par round 71, nobody else enduring the squall had scored better.

In his summation of Lowry’s achievement Sky commentator Rich Beam was bowled over by the enormity his triumph. The course, the conditions, the weight of expectation. Fifty eight years since the last Open Championship on Irish soil, the dream outcome had materialised. The Guinness will certainly be flowing.

©Mark Brennand