St Jude finish puts pep in Lowry’s step ahead of PGA Championship
SHANE LOWRY heads into this week’s PGA Championship with high hopes after he recorded his best finish since January in the WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational in Memphis.
The Open champion might have missed too many fairways and holed little on the greens, but that he managed to close with a three-under 67 to finish in the top 10 on nine-under can only give him hope ahead of this week’s PGA Championship.
Graeme McDowell finished in the pack on three-under after a 69 and while it was another disappointing week for Rory McIlroy, the world No 2 signed off with just his second bogey-free round since the coronavirus lockdown.
A three-under 67 still left the Co Down man in the bottom half of the 78-man field on one-under, but after another up-and-down week it at least gave him something positive to think about heading to San Francisco.
The Co Down man has struggled for inspiration and recorded just one top-30 finish from five starts since the PGA Tour returned without galleries in June.
But as playing partner and Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood remarked after shooting a 65 and finishing alongside McDowell on three-under, there’s never a bad time to shoot a good score.
Confidence
“It’s important to have rounds that just build confidence,” Fleetwood said.
In the opposite field Barracuda Championship in California, Seamus Power was chasing a top-10 finish that would keep his hopes alive of qualifying for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Meanwhile, England’s Sam Horsfield took advantage of a late mistake by Belgium’s Thomas Detry to claim his maiden title in the Hero Open at the Forest of Arden.
Detry (27) began the day three strokes behind Horsfield (23) on 11-under but after racing into the lead on 18-under playing the last, the Belgian lipped out with a threefooter for his par-three at the 18th.
Horsfield duly birdied the par-five 17th to regain the lead before closing out victory with a solid two-putt.
“It’s crazy, I can’t put it into words,” said Florida-based Horsfield, who closed with a four-under 68 to Detry’s 66 to win by one-stroke on 18-under par and claim €156,825.
“It’s special. With everything that’s going on in the world right now, I’m thankful that the European Tour has been able to put on tournaments for us to play.”
After opening with rounds of 70 and 67, Ardglass’ Cormac Sharvin closed with a brace of one-over 73’s to finish tied for 47th on five-under and earn €4,243.