03/03/26 09:05:00
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03/03 09:03 CST Shane Lowry has no choice but to pick himself up and move on
after PGA National collapse
Shane Lowry has no choice but to pick himself up and move on after PGA National
collapse
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) --- It's OK to feel sad for Shane Lowry.
He had one hand on the trophy and the other hand outstretched to hug his
4-year-old daughter when she ran onto the 18th green at PGA National to
celebrate the first time seeing her father win. That was the plan, anyway.
Lowry could practically picture the whole scene.
"Just to see her little ginger hair running down the 18th green would have been
the most special thing in the world," he said. "I thought I had it. I thought I
was going to win."
That was before he hit 3-iron off the 16th tee and into the water and had to
scramble for a double bogey just to stay one shot ahead. Before he could hit
another shot, Lowry watched Nico Echavarria make birdie on the par-3 17th to
tie him. And then Lowry hit a chip 7-iron --- perfect number, perfect club,
imperfect swing --- into the water for another double bogey.
A five-shot swing in two holes. It was cruel to watch, and especially painful
to hear him talk about how badly he wanted to win for 4-year-old Ivy, no one
else.
But there's no need to feel sorry for Lowry.
There will be other opportunities, perhaps more painful outcomes, no promises.
Such is sport. This is what golf does to players at the highest level. The game
can turn on the best of them without notice, as it did Sunday in the Cognizant
Classic.
"Golf does strange things to you at times," Lowry said, "and it certainly did
it to me today."
Lowry, of course, has plenty of company on far bigger stages.
Scott Hoch missing a 30-inch putt to win the Masters in 1989 comes to mind.
Later that year was an even greater gut-wrenching moment when Mike Reid lost a
three-shot lead with three holes to play in the PGA Championship. He was in
tears meeting with the press, stopping six times to compose himself.
Bob Verdi wrote in his column for the Chicago Tribune that Jack Nicklaus sought
out Reid in the locker room at Kemper Lakes and his voice cracked when he told
Reid, "I just wanted to say I've never felt so bad for anyone in my life."
It happens.
But it was something Lowry said late Sunday afternoon when trying to decipher
how one bad swing on the 16th tee could leave him unable to feel the club face.
Lowry said he told caddie Darren Reynolds, "How do I feel like this now when I
went through what I did last September in Bethpage and got through that fine?"
It was a reminder not just how fickle golf is, but the extraordinary gap
between the highs and lows.
Yes, it was only five months ago when Lowry birdied three of his last four
holes, the last one from 6 feet to secure the half-point Europe needed to
retain the Ryder Cup. What a moment! He pumped his fists and spun around the
green while squeezing every teammate he could find.
"Coolest thing I've done in my life," Lowry said that day, strong words coming
from an Irishman who won the claret jug at Royal Portrush.
Jim Furyk is the only Ryder Cup player who was on both sides of the decisive
match against Europe. He watched Paul McGinley celebrate a European win at The
Belfry in 2002, and it was Furyk's win against Miguel Angel Jimenez that
clinched it for the Americans at Valhalla in 2008.
His conclusion of those moments?
"Losing always hurts worse than winning feels good," Furyk once said.
Lowry has suffered twice now at PGA National. It was four years ago when he
came to the 18th hole tied for the lead. Sepp Straka blasted a 334-yard drive
over the bunkers that left him a 6-iron to the green. And then the sky opened
with rain so hard Lowry couldn't take the same aggressive line off the tee. "As
bad a break as I've got in a while," Lowry said after finishing one back.
There would be others. It's golf. And it doesn't have to be on a major stage,
where fans have witnessed the sudden calamity of Jean Van de Velde at
Carnoustie in the 1999 British Open, the slow bleed of Greg Norman at the 1996
Masters and the perplexing decisions by Phil Mickelson when he made double
bogey on the final hole to lose the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
One hand on the trophy?
That was Kyle Stanley at Torrey Pines in 2012 when he had a three-shot lead and
was 77 yards from the 18th green. His wedge spun back into the water, he
three-putted for a triple bogey and lost in a playoff to Brandt Snedeker.
Stanley's lip quivered as he tried to explain what happened on No. 18.
"I could probably play it a thousand times and never make an 8," he said. The
next week, Stanley came from eight shots back to win the Phoenix Open.
Justice served? No. Just a strange sport.
Tommy Fleetwood lost the Travelers Championship on a two-shot swing at the
final hole, and a month later gave up a two-shot lead with three holes to play
in the FedEx Cup playoff opener. Two weeks later, he was the FedEx Cup champion.
There's always the next tournament. There's always another opportunity, no
guarantees. And there was only one option for Lowry.
"I have a tee time next Thursday in Bay Hill," he said, "and I have no choice
but to move on."
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