One last birdie at the Bridgestone
A shot through the trees helps Shane Lowry lock up the tournament at Akron, Ohio.
With no mistakes and two great escapes from the trees, Shane Lowry of Ireland introduced himself on a world stage Sunday by winning the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.
He locked up victory in this World Golf Championship with a shot through the trees from left of the 18th fairway that descended over a bunker and settled just over 10 feet away for one final birdie and a four-under-par 66.
“I was trying to get it to the front right of the green, but I pulled it a little bit,” Lowry said. “Obviously, it went through the tree, and the rest is history. I couldn’t believe I was seeing the ball coming down from there, coming down on the green.”
He won by two shots over Bubba Watson, who also shot 66. Lowry won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, and he picked up his first European Tour victory in 2012 in Portugal.
In a final round at Firestone against a trio of major champions, Lowry produced a flawless card of no bogeys and plenty of emotional fist pumps to celebrate the biggest win of his career. He is the first nonPGA Tour member to win a WGC since Martin Kaymer at the 2011 HSBC Champions.
Jim Furyk and Justin Rose, who shared the 54hole lead, both shot 72 to tie for third, four shots behind.
Lowry finished at 11under 269 and earned $1.57 million, along with a PGA Tour card for the next three years. He had been a special temporary member.
Jordan Spieth closed with a 66 and tied for 10th, his fifth straight top 10 during a stretch in which he has won
four times.
Henry is a winner
J.J. Henry won the Barracuda Championship for the second time in four years, beating Kyle Reifers with a 15-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the second hole of a playoff in Reno, Nev. After Henry holed the left-to-right breaking putt on the par-five 18th, Reifers missed a 10footer.
Reifers had three backnine eagles in a 22-point round to match Henry at 47 points at Montreux Golf and Country Club in the PGA Tour’s only modified Stableford event.
Maggert stays hot
Jeff Maggert won the Shaw Charity Classic for his third Champions Tour title of the year, making birdies on five of the last six holes on the front nine in a fourstroke victory in Calgary, Canada.
The 51-year-old Texan, two strokes behind playing partners Miguel Angel Jimenez and Colin Montgomerie entering the round, closed with a six-under 64 at Canyon Meadows to finish at 16under 194. Montgomerie was second after a 70.