The Open 2019: Shane Lowry's Royal Portrush win seals first major

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Tommy Fleetwood and Lee Westwood led the English charge on day two of the 148th Open at Royal Portrush as the world's best players bunched up behind clubhouse leader JB Holmes.

Both Englishmen shot four-under-par 67s and are one stroke adrift of the American who is in the clubhouse on eight under after a 68.

England's world number four Justin Rose is also in the hunt on six under.

World number one Brooks Koepka and 2017 winner Jordan Spieth are a shot behind.

With the projected cut at one over, three-time champion Tiger Woods will miss the weekend for the third time in 21 attempts after finishing his second round on six over.

The 43-year-old American, whose Masters victory in April earned him a 15th major, followed up his disappointing 78 with a much improved 70. Woods, who has endured several back operations, complained of feeling discomfort on Thursday.

Fleetwood said 2019 has the "potential to be great" for him.

"I felt like I was a lot more stress-free," said the 28-year-old, whose last win was in Abu Dhabi in January 2018. "I made two or three good par-saves, but I enjoy the challenge," he said.

"It seemed like a much more scoreable morning, but the course doesn't allow for many birdies so you have to be patient.

"My major performances haven't been as good as the previous year. It's been a quieter year, but with the potential to be great - I've been up there two or three times on the PGA Tour and not won."

Former champions Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy are unlikely to make the cut after shooting high scores on the opening day.

Northern Ireland's McIlroy recorded a 79 in front of his home crowd, which included a quadruple bogey and a triple bogey, and begun his second round at 15:10 BST.

 

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Three-time champion Tiger Woods said he can no longer be consistent after missing the cut at The Open, and added he would be taking a short break.

The 15-time major winner finished on six over and he has now missed multiple cuts at majors in the same season for only the second time.

"As an older athlete you're not going to be as consistent as you were at 23," said the 43-year-old.

Woods, who has had back operations, complained of soreness on Thursday.

He struggled to a seven-over 78 and said he would be receiving treatment after the round. The American, who won the Masters in April, improved on Friday with a 70, although he finished the round with back-to-back bogeys.

The American, who also missed the cut at the US PGA Championship, added: "I'm going to have my hot weeks. I'm going to be there in contention with a chance to win, and I will win tournaments.

"But there are times when I'm just not going to be there and that wasn't the case 20-some-odd years ago. I had a different body and I was able to be a little bit more consistent.

"I love the atmosphere and I love the stress of playing in a major. Unfortunately, I've only had a chance to win one of them and was able to do it but at the other three I didn't do very well."

Woods will skip the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis in order to rest before the FedEx play-offs.

"I just want some time off just to get away from it," he added.

"I had a long trip to Thailand and was then trying to get ready for this event. It's been a lot of travel, a lot of time in the air, a lot of moving around and different hotels. I just want to go home."

'That's why at 43 you are more or less done'
Iain Carter, BBC Sport golf correspondent at Royal Portrush

Tiger Woods' body is frail and fragile and will work some weeks, as it did so well at the Masters, but it will let him down especially in conditions like this here.

Actually the fact he is being as candid as he is is a shift because during the previous problems prior to his back fusion operation there was an element of denial. We could see he was really struggling but he was telling us the aura was still there and he could still win titles.

Woods turned this into a sport for athletes and athletes are done by their late 30s in other sports. The model Woods brought to the game of being in the gym and training as an athlete has changed the game of golf. It's a power game and takes a toll on the body. It's power rather than guile and that's why at 43 you are more or less done.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/49051173

 

[Kroll]

Ninety per cent of the interest goes once Tiger's out.

 

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Ireland's Shane Lowry produced one of the great major championship rounds with a sensational eight-under-par 63 that sees him take a four-shot lead into Sunday's final round of The Open.

Lowry, who called it "one of the most incredible days of my life," carded eight birdies to finish on 16 under overall at Royal Portrush.

England's Tommy Fleetwood is Lowry's closest rival on 12 under after a 66.

JB Holmes is third on 10 under, one head of Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka.

World number one Koepka, who won this year's US PGA Championship and finished runner-up at the Masters and US Open, finished with successive birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to keep himself in contention to win a fifth major in his last 10 appearances.

But the day belonged to the 32-year-old Lowry who started the day tied at the top of the leaderboard alongside Holmes and was in sensational form from the first hole until the last, hitting 17 of the 18 greens in regulation as he set a new course record.

A partisan crowd at the Northern Irish course cheered his every birdie, the noise being so raucous that Fleetwood and playing partner Lee Westwood, who were in the group in front, had to wait to play their tee shots on the 18th.

And there were incredible scenes as Lowry walked down the last. Scenes usually reserved for the final day of the championship, as fans stood to applaud and cheer their man as he completed a memorable round of golf.

With adverse weather forecast for Sunday, tee times have been brought forward with the first tee time at 07:32 BST with the leaders beginning their final round at 13:47 BST.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/49059720

 

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Shane Lowry heading for a victory it seems

Leader: -18 Lowry (7)
Selected: -12 Fleetwood (7); -10 Westwood (8); -9 Willett (8), Fowler (8)
-8 Finau (9); -7 Thomas (13), Koepka (7)
-6 Rose (8), Holmes (7); -5 MacIntyre (F) -4 Spieth (10), Rahm (9); -3 Molinari (F); +3 McDowell (17)

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Simply brilliant from Lowry. Man this island produces some insane golfing talent. Harrington, McDowell, Lowry, McIlroy, Clarke etc.

Fantastic victory

 

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Ireland's Shane Lowry claimed a first major championship win with a dominant six-shot victory on 15 under par amid raucous scenes at The Open.

Lowry started the celebrations early, his arms aloft as he squeezed through the crowds who swarmed the 18th fairway at Northern Ireland's Royal Portrush.

"This feels like an out-of-body experience," said the 32-year-old.

Lowry held his nerve in the wind and rain to shoot a one-over 72, with Tommy Fleetwood second on nine under.

England's Fleetwood briefly threatened but a double bogey on the 14th effectively ended his challenge as he finished with a three-over 74.

"I can't wait to wake up on Monday morning and find out what it's going to feel like then. It's just going to be incredible," added Lowry who was mobbed before he reached the green on the last hole.

Thousands of partisan fans lined the 18th to cheer Lowry's victory procession and as he turned to embrace his caddie Brian 'Bo' Martin after hitting his second shot to the green, hundreds flooded the fairway ahead of him.

Lowry and Martin were shepherded through the crowds and under a rope by marshals to allow them safe passage.

There will also have been a sense of redemption for Lowry following his final-round capitulation at the US Open three years ago when, like on Sunday, he started with a four shot lead but a 76 saw him fall away as Dustin Johnson won.

American Tony Finau carded a one-over-par 71 to end third on seven under, his best finish at a major.

An up-and-down round for England's Lee Westwood saw him card a two-over 73 for a share of fourth that guarantees him a place at next year's Masters. He finished six under overall alongside world number one Brooks Koepka who struggled to a 74.

Lowry writes himself into Irish folklore

Drama on the first as Fleetwood makes up a shot on Lowry
There was little doubt about the who the vast majority of the fans were behind from the first moment until the last, with huge cheers greeting Lowry's name when it was read out over the speakers as he arrived at the first tee.

He had looked calm while out on the practice green but nerves appeared to take their hold when he tugged his opening tee shot into the rough before hitting his second into a greenside bunker.

Lowry escaped with a bogey but the nerves were there for Fleetwood too as he missed a birdie putt that would have cut the lead to two.

The 28-year-old, bidding to become the first Englishman to win the Open since Sir Nick Faldo in 1992, then overhit his par putt on the third and the bogey meant Lowry's advantage was four once again.

That seemed to give Lowry the confidence boost he needed and he holed two successive birdie putts from the fourth. Heavy rain and wind arrived soon after and Lowry, battling both the elements and nerves, struggled after the turn, bogeying four of the five holes from the ninth.

From then on it was about digging in and not giving Fleetwood the glimmer of hope of taking it down to the wire. Lowry holed a couple of crucial par putts before celebrating a birdie on the 15th with a big fist pump. It was a putt that appeared to signal the moment Fleetwood's fleeting hopes of staging a comeback were ended.

Lowry's name was already being engraved on the Claret Jug as he approached the 18th green as he soaked up the adulation from the thousands gathered to witness the biggest win of his career.

Westwood, runner up at 2010 The Open, will have arrived at Portrush on Sunday quietly confident of mounting a challenge as he looked to break his major duck.

The 46-year-old Englishman made a poor start with a bogey on the first but recovered with three birdies over his next four holes.

However, every time he looked like threatening the leading pair, the chance to close the gap passed him by. He left a birdie putt hanging on the edge of the seventh hole before missing another opportunity on the eighth.

His challenge effectively ended around the turn with bogeys on the ninth, 11th and 12th and he finished six under overall after carding a two-over 73.

Lee Westwood
Westwood's fourth-place finish does mean he has earned a first Masters appearance since 2017 next April
Westwood's compatriot Justin Rose had an even tougher day. He shanked a shot almost sideways in the midst of the heavy rain while on the ninth and did not pick up a birdie until the 12th hole. But three bogeys in his last six holes saw him return to the clubhouse with an eight-over 79 to end one under.

In contrast, Scotland's Bob MacIntyre and England's Tyrrell Hatton were the only two golfers who finished in the top six to fire under-par rounds on Sunday.

Much of that will be down to their earlier start time and missing the stormy weather. MacIntyre, making his major debut, hit a three-under-par 68 while Hatton finished on two under.

They shared sixth place alongside England's Danny Willett (73) and American Rickie Fowler (74).

Francesco Molinari, the 2018 winner, never really got his defence going, although he did finish on a high by shooting the best round of the day.

The Italian, who won by two shots at Carnoustie last year, shot a five-under 66, which included an eagle on the 12th.

Asked if he had enjoyed his week as defending champion, Molinari, who had opened with a three-over 74 in round one, said: "I can't lie - some bits of it yes, some bits of it no.

"But I was not managing my expectations well enough unfortunately. On Sunday I was playing more freely, just enjoying the support from the crowd."

A day to forget for Holmes
The parties in Portrush will go long into the night, but one person who will not be in the mood for any celebrations any time soon is JB Holmes.

The American led at the halfway stage of the tournament and was third on 10 under at the start of the final day, primed to challenge for the victory.

However, he endured a horror round of 87 that included six bogeys, four double bogeys and one triple bogey, finishing 16 over for the day and six over for the tournament.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/49064754