Ireland’s Shane Lowry admitted he “had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away” following his late collapse at the Cognizant Classic In The Palm Beaches on Sunday.
However, seemingly out of nowhere, the 38-year-old excessively faded his tee shot at the par-4 16th into the water down the right before going on to make a decent double-bogey, given the circumstances.
Stood on the 17th tee box, he then watched rival – and eventual winner – Nico Echavarria birdie the final par 3 to draw level in the group ahead.
Shockingly, Lowry proceeded to once again slice his tee shot into the water down the right and once again made a double-bogey to all but end his chances of a first solo PGA Tour title in seven years.
The man who produced the winning putt for Team Europe at last year’s Ryder Cup has three PGA Tour titles to his name, with the first arriving at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational back in 2015.
Lowry also claimed The Open Championship at Royal Portrush in 2019 and partnered Rory McIlroy to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans trophy in 2024.
But, with the latest chance to snap that streak arguably as close as it’s ever been, Lowry was unable to cross the line.
Reacting to the final-round events immediately after signing for a closing two-under 69, Lowry was almost at a loss for words over what occurred.
He said: “I’m obviously extremely disappointed. I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away. What more can I say? That’s twice this year now so far. I’m getting good at it.
“Yeah, look, what can I say? I played unbelievable all day, and one bad shot on 16 completely threw me for the last three holes. It’s never happened to me before.
“I said to Darren [Reynolds – caddie], how do I feel like this now when I went through what I did last September in Bethpage and got through that fine?
“I just felt like it was weird out there; I just really — yeah, just couldn’t feel the club face the last three holes then after my tee shot on 16. It was strange.
“What can I say?…
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