GOLF:PROVING BOTH to himself and the golfing world that his Irish Open success of three years ago was no fluke, Shane Lowry yesterday added his first European Tour title as a professional when winning the Portugal Masters by one stroke at the Oceanico resort in Vilamoura.
The 25-year-old from Clara in Offaly stunned the golfing world with his success at Baltray in 2009 when beating Robert Rock in a play-off to claim the title as an amateur.
And there was plenty of drama and tension on the final day in Vilamoura as Lowry clawed back a four-shot overnight deficit to pip English Ryder Cup player Ross Fisher by one shot in front of a vocal following at the Irish-owned resort.
Lowry started and finished his final round with a bogey, but in between he carded six birdies and a stunning eagle at the par-four 11th when he holed his seven-iron approach shot, as he carded a 66 to finish on 14 under.
Fisher, who won the Irish Open the year after Lowry in 2010, was given an opportunity of forcing a play-off after Lowry bogeyed the last, but he three-putted the final green as he finished on 13 under after a final round of 70.
The winner’s cheque for €375,000 more than doubles Lowry’s earnings for the year to €728,000 and moves him up to 29th in the Race to Dubai standings, with Fisher moving up to 28th position.
Lowry had been 65th in the standings and outside the top 60 that earn an invite to the lucrative final Tour Championship event in Dubai at the end of November, where the overall prize pool is €8 million. His victory will also see Lowry make a significant move up the world rankings from his present position of 128th to just outside the top 70. He became the second player to win on the European Tour as both an amateur and a professional, joining Spaniard Pablo Martin.
And it was that breakthrough that Lowry pointed to after accepting the trophy from European Tour chief George O’Grady.
“Everyone was referring to me as the fella who won the Irish Open as an amateur, but now I’ve won such a prestigious event I don’t know what to say,” said Lowry, who celebrated his win on the practice putting green with his manager Conor Ridge, who also looks after world number one Rory McIlroy.
Lowry was still three behind at the turn, but birdied the 10th and then saw his approach to the next land a foot short of the flag and hop in.
“I thought then this could be my day and thankfully it is,” he added. “We had a long wait on the 12th tee which was good, I had time to compose myself.”
Nothing may ever match the atmosphere in torrential rain on the day he triumphed at Co Louth, but he was full of praise for the support he received at the Victoria Course, saying: “It was like playing in Ireland. It was crazy. It was great.”
270 (-14)
Shane Lowry (Ire)67 70 67 66
271 (-13)
Ross Fisher (Eng)65 67 69 70
272 (-12)
Michael Campbell (NZ) 68 69 67 68
273 (-11)
Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 70 65 65 73
274 (-10)
Richard Finch (Eng)70 68 66 70
276 (-8)
Stephen Gallacher (Sco)65 70 72 69
Jamie Donaldson (Wal)67 71 72 66
Danny Willett (Eng)70 69 74 63
George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 73 67 67
Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 70 68 68
Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 72 70 71 63
