Lowry shines in 2022 but misses out on FedEx Cup finale
Shane Lowry and his caddie Brian Martin on the 12th hole during the first round at the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Robert Beck/USGA)
Shane Lowry agonisingly missed out on qualifying for the Tour Championship for the first time as Pádraig Harrington racked up his second win of the season on the PGA Tour Champions.
While Lowry closed with a three-under 68 to finish tied 12th on eight-under in the BMW Championship in Delaware, he was left to rue a three-putt bogey from 65 feet at the 17th and a missed birdie chance from 22 feet at the last.
Adam Scott’s sensational sand save at the 18th to secure a tied for fifth meant Lowry ended up 31st in the FedEx Cup standings with only the top 30 set to battle for the $18 million bonus at East Lake this week.
US Senior Open winner Harrington closed with a five-under 67 to win the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open by three shots from overnight leader Mike Weir and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee on 16-under at En-Joie Golf Club in New York to move to second in the Charles Schwab standings.
But as Rory McIlroy birdied his last three holes to finish tied eighth at Wilmington Country Club on nine under, five shots behind winner Patrick Cantlay and qualify for the Tour Championship for the ninth time, Lowry was left without a reward for the most consistent season of his career.
“I played great golf but my season was looking over after nine holes yesterday,” Lowry said. “Six under from my last 27 holes in tough conditions is very good. I'm proud of how I played. The three-putt on 17 was disappointing but I feel like I've had a pretty good season on the PGA Tour.
"To be in this position after only playing 18 events is pretty good golf. The fact that I play Europe and over here, it's just so hard to do. Obviously, Rory does every year, but Rory is Rory.
“Throw five or six more events in my schedule and I'm guaranteed to be there next week. That's the disappointing part of it.”
Tied for 11th overnight and 38th in the FedEx Cup list starting the week, Lowry bogeyed the first but birdied the fourth and fifth, holed a bunker shot at the seventh, then brushed in a 20-footer at the ninth to turn in 32.
While he three-putted the par-five 12th, he birdied the14th to move to 27th in the FedEx Cup race, holed good putts for pars at the 15th and 15th but he three-putted the 17th from 65 feet and couldn’t birdie the last.
“I feel like there's a lot of things that didn't go my way this season,” Lowry said, reflecting on runner-up finishes in the Honda Classic and the RBC Heritage. “I had a few chances to win tournaments that I didn't get over the line, but all in all, it's been a pretty good year without a win. It's kind of one of those.”
Lowry also explained his Twitter post comparing his caddie Brian “Bo” Martin to Jesus for wearing sandals during Saturday’s back nine.
“Yeah, I actually -- it's funny because I actually bought him those shoes,” Lowry said. “He loves those Jordan runners. He likes them, they're comfortable or whatever. I bought him a few pairs, and I was home on Monday and I brought them up to him this week, and yeah, he just got really bad blisters.
“I said to him -- we got stuff out, and I actually wrapped it up for him on the 5th hole. I didn't do a very good job, obviously, and then on the 9th I said, have you got your sandals with you, your Birkenstocks, and he did. So I said, why not wear them for the back nine; I mean, it's dry, it's fine, and they're comfy, so yeah. Looked like Jesus out there. (Laughter.)”
Played so bad on the front 9 I got Jesus on the bag for the back.
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) August 21, 2022
pic.twitter.com/SSz7Nrmskd
Defending champion Cantlay shot 69 to win by a shot from Scott Stallings on 14-under par and move up to second in the FedEx Cup standings behind world number one Scottie Scheffler with McIlroy seventh ahead of the final event, leaving him six shots behind FedEx Cup leader Scheffler.
STARTING STROKES - Tour Championship
10 under Scottie Scheffler
8 under Patrick Cantlay
7 under Will Zalatoris
6 under Xander Schauffele
5 under Sam Burns
4 under Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, Sepp Straka, Sungjae Im
3 under Jon Rahm, Scott Stallings, Justin Thomas, Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick
2 under Max Homa, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Joaquin Niemann, Viktor Hovland
1 under Collin Morikawa, Billy Horschel, Tom Hoge, Corey Conners, Brian Harman
Even par K.H. Lee, J.T. Poston, Sahith Theegala, Adam Scott, Aaron Wise
Seamus Power closed with a 75 to finish 65th on seven-over and 42nd in the FedEx Cup with tournament earnings of just over $3.1 million this year.
Meanwhile, Cormac Sharvin (29) fired a six-under 66 to clinch a career-best tie for 13th in the weather-reduced D+D REAL Czech Masters in Prague.
After missing his last 13 cuts in row, the Ardglass star made an eagle and seven birdies to finish just six shots behind winner Max Kieffer of Germany on 10-under at Albatross Golf Resort for his best finish since he tied for 15th in the 2019 Irish Open at Lahinch.
“It’s been so long,” said Sharvin (29) who jumps 68 places to 229th in the Race to Dubai and into position to salvage something from the season. “I’ve really been struggling with my golf. I’ve missed 13 cuts in a row so to be honest I am just happy to be playing the weekend. I’m just happy that it’s a big huge step in the right direction for me.
“It’s been a huge struggle the last year or so. Just to be up there I didn’t know if I would ever see my name on the leaderboard again and I saw I was second at one stage and just to see that gives me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the year.”
David Carey shot an eight-over 80 to finish 68th on five-over as Kieffer ended a nine-year wait for his maiden DP World Tour title, carding a six under par 66 to finish one stroke ahead of overnight leader Gavin Green on 16-under.
On the Challenge Tour, Kinsale’s John Murphy closed with a four-under 68 to tie for 22nd on eight-under in the Dormy Open in Stockholm, seven shots behind Spain’s Emilio Cuartero Blanco.
Meanwhile, Carlow’s Damien McGrane closed with a three-under 69 on Saturday to win the 112th Irish PGA by two strokes from North West’s Brian McElhinney on eight-under 208 at Carne Golf Links’ Wild Atlantic Way course.
