Lowry back in the swing at Sawgrass
Shane Lowry of Ireland plays his shot from the 14th tee during the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2021 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
SHANE LOWRY gave his Ryder Cup hopes a massive shot in the arm when he birdied the last to clinch his first top-10 finish for seven months in The Players at TPC Sawgrass.
The Open champion picked the perfect week to switch to the conventional grip and rediscover his putting touch, closing with a four-under 68 to finish eighth, five strokes behind winner Justin Thomas on nine-under.
The Kentucky native came from seven shots behind halfway leader Lee Westwood (48), carding weekend rounds of 64 and 68 to win his 14th PGA Tour title by a shot on 14-under from the Englishman, who ran out of stream found water twice in his first four holes and struggled to a 72.
“Probably one of the best round of my life tee to green, total control of the ball,” Thomas said, revealing he’d received texts of encouragement from pal Tiger Woods. “I was replaying what he told me a lot in my head. He likes to give me a lot of grief, especially when he's not here… Part of me wishes he was here so I could rub it in his face a little bit more.”
Bryson DeChambeau was always playing catch up after he topped his tee shot into water at the fourth and made a double-bogey six, finishing two adrift, tied for third with left-hander Brian Harman (69) after a 71.
After a poor run of form, Lowry was pleased to turn his putting around and record his first top-10 since he tied for sixth in the WGC-FedEx St Jude Championship last August.
“To be honest I'm pretty happy with the week in general because it's not been the best run of form for me over the last while,” said Lowry, who will enjoy a “boys' trip” to Augusta National today and tomorrow with coach Neil Manchip and Westwood and his son Sam. “Hopefully this is a bit of a momentum swinger and shift of momentum in the right direction going forward over the next few weeks.”
Lowry knew a closing 64 or 65 could frighten the leaders but while he knocked in birdies at the first, fifth, ninth and 10th to get within two shots of the lead, he missed three chances inside 10 feet, failed to birdie the par-5 16th and a three-putted the 17th from 50 feet.
“I felt the heat a little bit coming down the stretch,” he confessed. “But look, it's a lot of positives to take from the week. Obviously the result is one thing, but my putting is another thing, and then I didn't even have my ‘A’ game I felt. I didn't even play my best this week. I felt like I ground it out well out there.”
Upbeat after ripping a 138-yard approach from the pine straw to three feet at the last to win €392,000, he’s hopeful he can hit top form as he plays this week’s Honda Classic and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play before the Masters.
“The only thing that was different for me this week is I actually holed a few putts,” he said. “I'm just going to keep rolling with that, keep trying my best, and you never know. If I can putt like that over the next sort of few months or even few weeks, you can always do something special up in Texas or over at Augusta, so we'll see how it goes.”
Lowry’s Sawgrass statistics
Strokes gained off the tee - 43rd
Strokes gained tee to green - 11th
Driving accuracy - T52 (53.57%)
Strokes gained approach - 24th
Greens in regulation - 11th (73.61%)
Strokes gained around the green - 5th
Strokes gained putting - T35
Putting inside 10 feet - T41 (87.32%)
Putting 3-5ft - T62 (76.92%)
Lowry’s season statistics PGA Tour
Strokes gained off the tee - 24th
Strokes gained tee to green - T53
Driving accuracy - 83rd (62.11%)
Strokes gained approach - T118
Greens in regulation - 58th (68.85%)
Strokes gained around the green - 73rd
Strokes gained putting - 174th
Putting inside 10 feet - T197th (85.42%)
Putting 3-5ft - T194th (82.26%)
