| Shane Lowry | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Shane Lowry |
| Born | 2 April 1987 Clara, County Offaly, Ireland |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Nationality | Ireland |
| Residence | Clara, County Offaly, Ireland |
| Career | |
| College | University College Dublin |
| Turned professional | 2009 |
| Current tour(s) | European Tour |
| Professional wins | 1 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| European Tour | 1 |
| Best results in Major Championships |
|
| Masters Tournament | DNP |
| U.S. Open | CUT: 2011 |
| The Open Championship | T37: 2010 |
| PGA Championship | CUT: 2010 |
Shane Lowry (born 2 April 1987) is an Irish professional golfer.
Contents |
Lowry was born in Clara, County Offaly, the son of Offaly 1982 All-Ireland winning footballer Brendan Lowry.[1] He attended Athlone Institute of Technology as a scholarship student on the Higher Certificate in Sport and Recreation. He was the 2007 Irish Amateur Close Champion, defeating Niall Turner 4 & 3 in the final.[2]
While still an amateur in May 2009, Lowry won The 3 Irish Open on the European Tour, defeating Robert Rock on the third hole of a sudden death playoff. The win, on his tour début, made him just the third amateur to win on the European Tour,[3] following Danny Lee earlier in the 2009 season, and Pablo Martín in 2007. Lowry shot a 62 to equal the lowest ever by an amateur on the circuit and led from the second round onwards.[4] With this win, he entered the Official World Golf Rankings as an amateur at No. 168[5] and reached a career high of 6th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.[6] Walker Cup captain Colin Dagleish described the win as "fairytale stuff", adding: "You'd have to say that Shane's victory was the biggest (of the three amateur wins). To win your own national Open is quite something. It was unbelievable, it really was."[4] The win was all the more remarkable because it was only the second home win since 1982 and the first since Pádraig Harrington in 2007.[4] Harrington himself was also full of praise: "It’s fabulous for Irish golf. You only have to look at the fact it is such a rarity for an amateur to win, such a rarity for an Irish player to win the Irish Open. So, on a lot of fronts, it is a big deal. It was very impressive."[7]
Lowry elected to turn professional the week after his Irish Open triumph, meaning that he would miss out on the opportunity to play in the Walker Cup in September.[8] He made his professional début on the 28 May at the European Open, where he shot 78 in the first round to end the opening day almost at the back of the field, and went on to miss the cut following a second round 73.[9]
Lowry missed the first three cuts of his professional career, but had his first pay day on 5 July 2009, when he finished 50th at the French Open.[10] He had his best professional result in November 2009, when he finished 3rd in the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan.[11]
In January 2010, he finished in fourth place in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship,[12] moving him into the top-100 of the Official World Golf Rankings.[13] In June 2010, Lowry qualified for his first major championship, the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews. During the qualification, Lowry equalled Nick Faldo's course record at Sunningdale when he posted a 62. Lowry went on to make the cut at St Andrews and eventually finished in a tie for 37th place.
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 May 2009 | The 3 Irish Open (as an amateur) |
–17 (67-62-71-71=271) | Playoff | Robert Rock |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | CUT |
| The Open Championship | T37 | DNP |
| PGA Championship | CUT | DNP |
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.