Luck Of The Irish… Or Not

Shane Lowry Grinds Out a Win at Abu Dhabi Rolex Series Event

Ireland's Shane Lowry won a see-saw battle with Richard Sterne, needing a birdie on the last hole to win the $7 million Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Holding his nerves on the back nine, he made up a deficit of four shots after losing a three-shot advantage early in the final round. His closing one-under par-71 round was good enough for a one-shot win over Sterne's final round of 69.

One can't help but wonder if there were flashbacks to Oakmont, when Lowry led the 2016 U.S. Open by four shots going into the last day only to lose to Dustin Johnson. Did the spectre of losing again from a final round leading position loom large or not at all?

For Shane Lowry, it wasn't a question at all as he broke the duck and took the bull by the horns. Not by any means easy, as the 31year old saw his three

shot advantage evaporate after Sterne opened with birdies on his first three holes, dropping behind by four, Lowry clawed his way back into a one shot lead which included 11 birdies on four par-3s, to stave off Richard Sterne for the win. For his considerable efforts, Lowry will receive $1.16 million for his fourth European Tour title, and rise to the top 50 in the World Ranking.

Reflecting back, the Irishman said, “People looking in from the outside probably thought I was gone, I didn't think I had it in me. But I holed a couple of great putts on 12 and 13 and I knew I was in it then. I said to my caddie walking down 16 that (if I got) three fours on the last three holes we could have a shout here.”

He said talking in depth with his coach Neil Manchip before the tournament "about hanging in and staying in there no matter what I do and no matter what I shoot and what shots I hit, definitely helped me out there today."

The triumphant Lowry was very down to earth, seeing himself as a definite weekend contender, just not at the golf's biggest tournaments, “I don't think I'm at the level where I'm out there just to win majors,” he says. “I want to win tournaments. It's hard to win on the PGA Tour. It's hard to win in Europe. Yes, Rory and some of the other lads can set themselves up for majors every year. But I'm not one of those. I don't think you can plan to peak in certain weeks. I just don't. If you do try to peak for a certain event you are putting too much pressure on yourself. It's just about playing well at the right time. And you can't really plan that.”