Shane Lowry finished sixth overall in 2024 Open after a strong closing round of 68, five shots behind Claret Jug winner Xander Schauffele.
When Lowry looks backs on this tournament, however, his memories will likely be tinged with regret. Lowry was atop the leaderboard after his rounds on Thursday and Friday. However, the conditions turned drastically on his back nine on Saturday.
In the space of 11 holes, Lowry lost his grip of his tournament. He eventually signed for a 77, and a tournament that had promised so much had been terribly upended.
While the Offalyman woke up today just three shots back, it was only natural to think Lowry's race was run.
After a bogey on the second hole, Lowry reeled off four birdies in five holes and put himself back into the mix.
Listen to that roar.
Shane Lowry holes a 56ft tramliner to move back into the mix. pic.twitter.com/S0HHNWIy6T— The Open (@TheOpen) July 21, 2024
The tournament would be won by the PGA winner, but Lowry showed off the best of his abilities today.
After his round today, Lowry was keen to thank an old friend for helping him turn his mindset around heading into the last round.
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Shane Lowry credits Padraig Harrington for turnaround
As Lowry teed off, RTÉ's Greg Allen said that Padraig Harrington had hung around after Lowry's round and gave a few words of encouragement.
Lowry shed more light on Harrington's intervention after his round today.
Yeah, Padraig was there. Padraig was trying to give his positive talk, and I was trying not to listen.
I said to the boys, I said, that's the reason I miss Paddy out on Tour. He's not there full-time now. I miss him an awful lot just for his positivity and just how good of a person he is.
But, yeah, he certainly was helpful last night. Yeah, I was taking -- no, I wasn't taking any help. I turned off my phone and just tried to be with the people around me and go out today and give it my best, and I did that. Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough.
Harrington, for his own part, was keen to deflect any credit for Lowry's turnaround today.
I didn't intentionally, but I was happy to be around and having a chat with him, yes. But I'm sure he'd be okay without me.
He had his crew with him, and I sat down with him for a while, and we just talked about everything. I don't think he needed me and I don't think I had to be there, but that doesn't mean -- you know me; prepared to give anybody a lecture.
Shane plays better the better he plays. He's a confidence player. He likes to be up there at the top. He needs to show form.
I think what we've seen with Shane over the years is he does have ups and downs in the year where he'll have -- but then he hits one or two good weeks and he continues that on for a few months. Maybe he's just like all golfers.
Of course Harrington was not just there to provide advice. He finished in a tie for 22nd place after a round of 72 today.
Lowry earned $611,000 for his sixth place finish. His attention will turn to the Olympics in two weeks time. He'll finish the year with two top 10s in majors: nothing to sniff at.
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