THE HIGH level of expectation that Shane Lowry carried into the professional game after his stunning success in winning the Irish Open title at Baltray in 2009 as an amateur was finally realised at Victoria Golf Club in Vilamoura yesterday as the 25-year-old claimed the Portugal Masters with a thrilling one-shot victory over England’s Ross Fisher.
The Clara golfer had to forego the €500,000 winner’s cheque three years ago after beating England’s Robert Rock in a play-off at the Co Louth course, but yesterday he bagged the €375,000 first prize when Fisher three-putted the final hole for a bogey when he needed a par to force the pair back down the final hole in a play-off.
Lowry became only the second player to win on the European Tour as both an amateur and a professional, joining Spaniard Pablo Martin, who won the 2007 Portuguese Open in his amateur days and then the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa two years later.
The shot of the day from Rory McIlroy’s stablemate was a seven-iron into the hole for an eagle two at the 11th.
Lowry was one ahead after adding birdies at the 15th and 17th, but prepared himself for a play-off after driving into sand and bogeying the last for a 66 and a 14 under par total.
Former Ryder Cup star Fisher was in the group behind and from the fringe of the green left his long birdie attempt – a putt to win the title – five feet short and he then lipped out.
“I cannot believe this,” said Lowry, after coming from four behind Austrian Bernd Wiesberger in the final round.
“I can’t explain how I feel really. It’s a dream come true – I’m over the moon.
“Everyone was referring to me as the fella who won the Irish Open as an amateur, but now I’ve won such a prestigious event I don’t know what to say.”
Lowry was still three behind at the turn, but birdied the 10th and then saw his approach to the next land a foot short of the flag and hop in.
He went ahead for the first time when Wiesberger drove into the lake and dropped a shot on the 11th, but Fisher then produced three birdies in a row to take over at the top.
The 31-year-old was chasing his first success since winning the 2010 Irish Open at Killarney, but bogeyed the short 16th to fall behind again and could not get back on terms.
Wiesberger found more water on the long 17th and by bogeying the last as well allowed New Zealander Michael Campbell to take third place on his own.
The 2005 US Open champion has suffered an horrendous slump since beating Tiger Woods at Pinehurst. He fell outside the world’s top 1,300 at one point and only two seasons ago made just one cut in 19 starts.
This was his best finish for four years and the last time he had four rounds in the 60s was nine years ago.
The final round included some spectacular rounds, with Danny Willett and Raphael Jaquelin both carding 63s to finish in a tie for sixth on eight under.
Pádraig Harrington shot a final round of level-par 71 to finish the week in a tie for 16th position on six under, while Damien McGrane signed for a 69 that saw him end up on four under.
Peter Lawrie matched McGrane’s final round to finish the tournament on three under, with Michael Hoey a shot further back after a 70 in his final round.
Lowry’s victory came in his 99th European Tour event and beats his previous best of the season, which was a a tie for second at the Lyoness Open at the end of July, an event won by Wiesberger.
In becoming the first Irish winner of the event, Lowry also went through the €2 million mark for career earnings and gains a European Tour exemption until the end of 2014.
He will move up to just outside the top 70 of the world rankings when they are announced this morning and receives exemptions to the HSBC Champions event later this year and to the 2013 Volvo Golf Champions.
A strong end to the season could see Lowry make it in to the top 50 in the world rankings and guarantee the Offaly man an invite to the Masters next April.
(British unless stated, Irish in bold par 72):
270 – Shane Lowry 67 70 67 66
271 – Ross Fisher 65 67 69 70
272 – Michael Campbell (Nzl) 68 69 67 68
273 – Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 70 65 65 73
274 – Richard Finch 70 68 66 70
276 – Stephen Gallacher 65 70 72 69, Jamie Donaldson 67 71 72 66, Danny Willett 70 69 74 63, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 73 67 67, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 70 68 68, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 72 70 71 63
277 – Matteo Manassero (Ita) 71 71 70 65, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Esp) 68 71 67 71, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 72 69 67 69, Scott Jamieson 71 70 68 68
278 – Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 71 66 70, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 72 70 66, Ricardo Santos (Por) 72 69 72 65, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 72 70 64 72, Simon Khan 72 70 68 68, Lee Slattery 69 70 74 65, Anthony Wall 68 71 68 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 69 70 73 66, Keith Horne (Rsa) 69 72 67 70, Mark Foster 71 67 67 73, Pádraig Harrington 69 67 71 71
279 – George Murray 66 76 65 72, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 71 69 71, Peter Whiteford 70 71 67 71, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 73 69 68 69, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 70 69 69, Oscar Floren (Swe) 73 68 67 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 73 65 75 66, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp) 69 68 68 74, Pedro Figueiredo (Por) 70 70 70 69, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 67 69 70 73
280 – Richard Bland 70 71 71 68, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 67 70 69 74, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 70 71 69 70, Damien McGrane 70 69 72 69, Steve Webster 71 68 74 67, David Howell 72 68 74 66, Matthew Baldwin 73 69 69 69, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 70 68 70, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 72 70 69 69, Andy Sullivan 72 69 68 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 70 73 67, Richard Green (Aus) 70 68 69 73
281 – Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 71 72 69, Tom Lewis 69 73 70 69, Peter Lawrie 73 67 72 69.
282 – Markus Brier (Aut) 69 71 67 75, Michael Hoey 70 72 70 70, Bradley Dredge 72 69 71 70
283 – Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 72 68 73 70, Rich Beem (USA) 70 72 71 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 69 71 74 69, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Esp) 68 71 73 71, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 72 69 73
284 – Carlos Del Moral (Esp) 69 72 74 69, Ricardo Melo Gouveia (Por) 70 72 67 75, Simon Dyson 72 68 70 74
285 – Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 72 68 76, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 67 71 77 70, Matthew Zions (Aus) 70 72 70 73, Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) 71 71 71 72
286 – Shaun Micheel (USA) 74 68 69 75
288 –Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 68 68 80, Alejandro Canizares (Esp) 70 72 72 74
289 – Jamie Elson 71 69 75 74
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