Norrman rules in Kildare as Lowry shines and McIlroy sinks

Vincent Norman. Picture Gerry

Sweden's Vincent Norrman claimed the Horizon Irish Open but Irish eyes were smiling for Shane Lowry as he produced his first top 10 for seven months to boost his confidence as the Ryder Cup looms.

Norrman conquered The K Club by carding a stunning seven-under 65 alongside Kilkenny debutant Mark Power to win by a shot from overnight leader Hurly Long on 14-under par.

But while Rory McIlroy put four balls in the water en route to a 74 that left him tied for 16th, five shots behind the winner, the big home crowd were treated to some final-round fireworks by Lowry, who made a run at the title en route to a four-under 68 that left him tied for third, just two behind the winner alongside Scotland's Grant Forrest (70), Kiwi Ryan Fox (70) and South African Thriston Lawrence (66).

Norrman was tied for 21st overnight, six shots behind Long. But after opening with six pars, he birdied the six of his next eight holes — the seventh, ninth, 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th — before finishing with another birdie to set a 14-under clubhouse target nobody could match over the next 90 minutes.

A host of players had chances to win the title, but they all faded down the stretch on a stop-start day that featured a 90-minute midday stoppage for thunderstorms.

It was Norrman's second DP World Tour win of the season following his victory in the Barbasol Championship 56 days ago, and it catapults him to a career-high of 76th in the world.

"It means everything," Norrman said. "Obviously, such a cool event to play. The fans have been incredible. I've really had a fun week."

He added: "It's a world-class event, and honestly, I can't believe it's happened."
McIlroy looked destined to repeat his 2016 victory when he birdied the first and found himself tied for the lead when Long three-putted the second.

But while he birdied the fourth, he put a nine-iron into the drink to double bogey the seventh, a wedge in the water at the 11th and two more in the Liffey en route to a triple bogey eighth at the ironic par-five 16th.

"Disappointing, obviously," McIlroy said. "In the middle of the seventh fairway, 13 under par for the tournament, like if someone had have told me you just need to make two more birdies on the way in and you'd win, I obviously would have taken that.

"Just a couple of loose swings. Seven and 16 this week have sort of been my bogey holes. I've hit six balls in the water on those two holes this week. That's basically what did me in.

Lowry more than justified his Ryder Cup wildcard with his first top-10 finish since February.

He looked set to challenge strongly when he rifled a four-iron to a foot at the fourth to set up a tap-in eagle that left him just three shots off the pace, then followed a bogey at the sixth with birdies at the 10th, 11th and 13th to move up to tied third.

His title challenge faded when he drove into the trees and bogeyed the 15th, then failed to birdie the 16th or 17th.

But after a closing birdie four, he was upbeat about his game and what lies ahead.

"The juices were flowing big time," Lowry said of his eagle at the fourth. "I loved every minute of it, and I felt good out there and hit some great shots when I thought I needed to.

"I feel like this season has been the season where I've not put all parts of my game together during tournament play… It almost came together this week.

"I hit so many good putts the last few days, I know it's kind of ifs and buts, but I couldn't do any more than I did over the last few days.

"I felt like I burned the edge an awful lot out there. Gave myself a lot of chances. And you know, it just wasn't to be."

Debutant Power enjoyed a sensational professional debut, finishing tied 33rd on seven-under to bank a cheque for €40,839 as his former college rival Norrman shot 65 to come through and win €951,046.

"I played with him a couple of times in college," Power said. "To see him do that is very special."

The 23-year-old was two-over for the day with two holes to play and frustrated he was burning money when he finished with two valuable birdies.

"It was something I was thinking about on the course because I was a little frustrated that I dropped off," Power said.

"Then I started to think, 'I'm losing money here!' So I tried my best to dig in even when I was feeling a little deflated. To finish with two birdies, I'm very happy with that."

Tom McKibbin's closing 70 saw him finish tied 39th in his first Irish Open as a professional on six-under, while Conor Purcell was 72nd on one-under after a bogey-bogey finish.

“Yeah, a little bit sloppy obviously, coming back out after a restart,” Purcell said. “It's hard to keep switched on and probably just a little lapse in concentration on 18 there for a sloppy bogey.

“It's been a great week I think. Just making cuts out here is a great feeling especially when I wasn't really playing great on Thursday and I managed to just turn around and make the weekend and see what I could do.

“Unfortunately, I didn't push any further but it's been a great experience. I started to play nice for a little stretch there Friday and Saturday but I couldn't really get into a rhythm of it today. I think starting in the fog didn't help. It was it was really tricky the first few holes it was so slow, huge wait on the fourth tee. and I just never really got into the round and it was always kind of one step forward, one step back and two sloppy bogeys to finish.“

Purcell heads back to the Challenge Tour in Portugal this week with high hopes of finishing the season on a high and tasting main tour golf full time next year.

“I think the Irish open in The K Club is quite a flagship event for the tour and the crowds are just amazing out there,” he said. “Even though I had much smaller crowds than the big boys, it's still cool to have a few people following me and a few cheers for good shots.”

As for Pádraig Harrington, his 74 left him 79th on level par, and after falling out of the top 50 in the Race to Dubai,  he needs a top 10 finish in this week's BMW PGA or the Alfred Dunhill Links to make the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

"That's it at the end of the day," said Harrington. "I need a big performance in one of those two events.”