Lowry excited for US Open after T6 at the Memorial
Shane Lowry
SHANE LOWRY is “excited” about next week’s US Open after he closed with a two-under 70 to clinch his third top-10 in his last four starts in Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.
Fresh from his tie for fourth in the PGA Championship, the Clara man (34) racked up more valuable Ryder Cup qualifying points when he tied for sixth on six-under, seven shots outside a playoff for the title that saw Patrick Cantlay beat Patrick Collin Morikawa with a par at the first tie hole after they carded 71s to tie on 13-under. Scores
Cantlay (29) made a 24 footer at the 17th to draw level, forcing Morikawa (24) to make a 12 footer for par to remain tied for the lead heading down the 18th.
Bunkered off the tee, Morikawa then got up and down from greenside sand for his par as Cantlay’s 25 footer for victory shaved the hole.
In the playoff, both men missed the 18th green but it was Cantlay who struck first, making a 12 footer for par before Morikawa missed from seven feet to extend the action.
“Yeah, I'm excited,” said Lowry, who bogeyed three of his first four holes, then completed a hat-trick of birdies by slam-dunking a 90-yard wedge at the ninth before picking up further shots at the 13th and 15th.
“I'm coming off a decent week at Kiawah and another decent week here, got a week off next week, so I'm excited to go out to Torrey Pines, a place that I really like.
“I haven't played there in a while but I've shot a couple of decent scores there and it's obviously going to be a different golf course when we get there for the US Open.
“But I know the golf course quite well and it would be nice to be able to go there and relax myself into the week, get off to a good start and hopefully put up another good performance.”
Rory McIlroy tied for 18th on one-under after a 72 in his last start before Torrey Pines where he expects few surprises.
“Obviously, January's very different to June in San Diego,” McIlroy said at the weekend. “I don't think they're going to set the golf course up super differently in terms of fairway widths or anything like that. The rough is going to be a little thicker and the whole course is probably just going to be a little firmer.”
The event was marred when Jon Rahm was forced to withdraw after Saturday’s third round having tested positive for COVID-19.
The Basque was six shots clear after a sensational 64 having been forced to undergo daily testing since Monday as a close to contact with a positive case — a member of his own inner circle.
Maverick Antcliff is tied for the lead in the Porsche European Open. Picture: Getty Images
Lowry felt sorry for the two-time Irish Open champion, who could have avoided disaster had he been vaccinated against Covid-19 earlier than last Wednesday.
“It’s just not really fair, is it?” Lowry said of Rahm, who must now self-isolate until next Tuesday. “It's so difficult isn't it? Like, I would be absolutely (inaudible) if it was me. It's such a difficult situation, a difficult situation for everyone. The TOUR, you know, they had some tough calls to make and that's just the world we're living in at the minute. It's just not really fair, is it?
“You know, luckily enough Jon Rahm is one of the best players in the world and will be for a long time and he'll have more chances to win tournaments. So if it was someone else who wouldn't really get the opportunities that he's going to get it could be a lot worse, so I'm sure Jon will kind of dust himself off and get back, hopefully, I don't know what the timeline is. Hopefully, he gets back for the US Open and then kicks off the summer.
“I think to put it into context the round of golf he played yesterday, I think it was the best round of golf I've ever seen because I think this golf course was like as difficult as you can get a golf course yesterday.”
Rahm received the single-dose Janssen vaccine at a clinic near Muirfield Village on Wednesday, meaning he would not be fully vaccinated and therefore exempt from the PGA Tour's daily testing regime until 14 days later.
He should have received his jab the week after the Masters, but his appointment was cancelled after the US authorities paused the rollout of the Janssen vaccine due to reports of a small number of blood clot cases.
His absence was felt by Morikawa and Cantlay, who were forced to reset.
“You know, such a weird situation and very unfortunate,” Cantlay said after his win. “He played so amazing the first three rounds that the way I felt Sunday morning was obviously a lot different than I felt on, walking off the 18th green on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do except reset and just take the new paradigm and run with it. I thought I did a good job of staying focused and it really felt like a battle between Collin and I all day and that's just kind of how it played out.
“I know Scottie [Scheffler] made a few birdies early and he was up there, but with Collin, right there in the same group it just felt like it was me and him trading blows all day.”
On the European Tour, Matthew Southgate shot 69 and Australian Maverick Antcliff a 68 to lead the 54-hole Porsche European Open into the final round at Green Eagle Golf Courses in Hamburg. Scores
Santiago Tarrio won his maiden Challenge Tour title at the REAL D+D Czech Challenge. Picture: Getty Images
They top the leaderboard on five-under-par, one shot clear of Italy's Eduardo Molinari, the Netherlands' Darius Van Driel and Scottish duo David Law and Scott Jamieson as the cut fell at three-over-par.
Cormac Sharvin made the final day with a shot to spare after a 75, but Niall Kearney double-bogeyed the 18th for a 74 and Jonathan Caldwell dropped shots at the last two holes in a 76 to miss out by a shot as Paul Dunne finished 10-over after an 82.
On the Challenge Tour, Spain's Santiago Tarrio beat Norway's Kristian Krogh Johannessen and Frenchman Julien Brun with a birdie at the fourth extra hole after he carded a 64 to tie on 17-under to win the REAL D+D Czech Challenge. Scores
Naas' Conor O'Rourke tied for 44th on four-under after a 71 at Golf & Spa Resort Kunětická Hora.
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington, Seamus Power and Derry's Ruaidhri McGee are amongst the 685 hopefuls who will battle for 80 US Open spots at nine final qualifying sites today.
Harrington tees it up at Brookside Golf & Country Club and The Lakes Golf & Country Club in Ohio, McGee goes at The Bear's Club in Florida, while Power plays at Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta.
