Irishman Shane Lowry was proclaimed champion of the 148th edition of the British Open, the first major of his career, while Jon Rahm had to settle for eleventh place.
The return to Northern Ireland of the Open Championship 68 years later was about adapting to Royal Portrush, about feeling at home. Lowry did it best, with his northern countrymen delivered, to avenge the US Open that eluded him in 2016 and experience the best week of his sporting life.
His 63 on Saturday was cheered like never before, as if it were a Ryder, when he reached the 18th enjoying what he later confessed was his best day on a golf course. Lowry was left to finish it off, with a four-stroke lead over Tommy Fleetwood going into Sunday, the same as three years ago at Oakmont.
Lee Westwood and Rickie Fowler, two of the regulars in the fight yet to debut in the majors, also began as contenders, especially when Lowry bogeyed the first hole. The Irishman did not take long to hold the helm again in a Royal Portrush that had started with rain and a lot of wind, in a denouement without much excitement.
The forecast was right, but the water was giving truce. Lowry warmed up with birdies on 4, 5 and 7, but again gave some excitement with bogeys on 8, 9 and 11. However, by then the battle was a matter of the star party with a Fleetwood who did not make enough pressure. The Englishman’s game failed from the tee and at the 14th the lead became five strokes.
With the good cushion and without rival, Lowry made birdie on the 15th and was allowed to savor his victory in the last three holes, with his name already engraved on the ‘Claret Jug’. Rahm’s progression in search of being in that select golf club arrived this week at the ‘British’, the ‘big one’ that had resisted him the most until now.
The Basque, however, fought without luck, always in the upper zone, to finish eleventh. Rahm started Sunday nine strokes behind Lowry and went all out from the first tee. Royal Portrush responded with a double bogey, and so was the day, with five bogeys and three birdies, the last on the 18th.
The two-time Irish Open champion in the last three years could at least get a smile on his face, to return next season to a fight he seems destined to win someday. He would have dreamed of a 21st of July, as a tribute to the first Spanish major, the Open won 40 years ago by Severiano Ballesteros. For his part, Sergio Garcia took a bitter farewell with a 78.
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