Lowry officially 41st in the world
Shane Lowry hits his tee shot on the 13th hole during the third round of the 100th PGA Championship at Bellerive in St. Louis, Missouri in 2018. Photo by Montana Pritchard/PGA of America
Shane Lowry’s dramatic Abu Dhabi HSBC victory has catapulted him 34 places to 41st in the latest Official World Golf Ranking.
The Offaly man (31) is also top of the Race to Dubai heading to this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
He’s certain to qualify for the WGC-Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec from February 21-24 as the Top 10 from Race to Dubai (Feb. 11). and the Top 50 from Official World Golf Ranking (Feb. 11) will all tee it up in the first WGC of the season.
He will also be eligible to play in The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass from March 14-17 if he’s in the world’s top 50 on March 4 and will also make the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club from March 27-31 as one of the top 64 inside top 100 in world on March 18.
As for the majors, he’s set to return to Augusta National for the Masters having failed to qualify last year after three successive appearances from 2015.
The Top 50 in the world on March 31 are exempt as well as winners of PGA Tour events that award full FedExCup points.
The top 100 in the world traditionally play the PGA Championship, which will be played at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in New York from May 16-19 and Lowry will be looking forward to returning the Big Apple.
He will also be exempt for the US Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links from June 13-16 if he’s in the world’s op 60 on May 20 while a trip to Royal Portrush for The Open from July 18-21 is also in his plans.
While the winners of the first three majors of the year will be exempt, the top 50 in the world will also be heading for the Causeway Coast.
While the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, which Lowry won in 2015, has moved to Memphis and is now the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind (July 25-28), Lowry will be eligible if he’s in the world’s top 50 before and after The Open (July 15 and 22).
Rory McIlroy, who makes his second start of 2019 alongside Tiger Woods in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines this week, remains eighth in the world with Paul Dunne 126th (down 2), Pádraig Harrington 205th (down 9), Graeme McDowell 245th (down 5), Seamus Power 374th (down 8), Gavin Moynihan 535th (down 7) and Michael Hoey 577th (down 7).
On the PGA Tour, New Orleans’ Adam Long (31) birdied the 18th from 14 feet to card a bogey-free, seven-under-par 65 and edge out Phil Mickelson and Adam Hadwin by a shot for the Desert Classic at La Quinta on 26-under par.
An absolutely unreal day that I'll never forget. Thank you to everyone for all of the support and @desert_classic for an incredible week! pic.twitter.com/SKJPZz3Erx
— Adam Long (@aLongShot) January 21, 2019
A Web.com Tour graduate, he rises 284 places to 133rd in the world and having been an alternate for this week’s Farmers Insurance Open, like Lowry, he can now look forward to an elite schedule.
“I didn't know what tournaments I would be getting into,” he said. “Coming off the Web.com Tour it can be tough. You're not guaranteed a whole lot, I didn't get off to a good start, so I was at the bottom of that category and my tournament schedule was a little bleak.
“But this changes everything, obviously, and I'm looking forward to The Players and the Majors of course all through the summer and then following it up with the FedExCup playoffs is going to be pretty surreal and pretty exciting but a lot to look forward to.”
Mickelson struggled on the greens (-3.5 for strokes gained putting yesterday as he had 33 putts) and shot 69 to finish a shot behind in a tie for second with Canadian Hadwin, who shot 67, losing a three-stroke lead on the back nine.
“Yeah I had a terrible putting day, one of the worst I can recall in a while,” Mickelson said. “Started right on the first hole with a little 4-footer uphill and 3-putting that green there.
“And I missed a bunch of short ones on the front and some birdie opportunities, but it felt awful with the putter. I hit a lot of good shots today though but just couldn't get the ball to go in the hole.”
Prom Meesawat, Jazz Janewattananond, Yoshinori Fujimoto and Doyeob Mun qualified for The 148th Open at the SMBC Singapore Open. Picture: The R&A/Getty Images
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond closed with a six-under-par 65 to take home the SMBC Singapore Open trophy for his third Asian Tour title and also seal his passage to The Open on Sunday moving to a career best World Number 74.
He will be joined at Royal Portrush by Yoshinori Fujimoto, Doyeob Mun and Prom Meesawat.
Janewattananond (23) posted a fantastic final round 65 that included seven birdies to claim his third and biggest ever win on the Asian Tour.
He will now make his second appearance in The Open after qualifying for the first time at last year’s SMBC Singapore Open when he earned a spot at Carnoustie.
Yoshimori and Englishman Paul Casey, who had already secured his starting berth at Royal Portrush, finished two shots behind Janewattananond in a tie for second place on a 16-under-par total of 268.
The 29-year-old from Japan sealed the second available place on offer for The Open this week after carding a 68 during today’s final round. He will also make his second appearance in golf’s original championship following his debut at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2012.
Matthew Fitzpatrick finished in fourth place on a 14-under-par total of 270 and has already qualified for The Open meaning that Doyeob Mun and Prom Meesawat earned the two remaining qualifying places after completing the tournament in a tie for fifth place on nine-under-par, a total of 275.
Mun will make his debut in The Open at Royal Portrush, his first ever major championship appearance, despite posting a final round 72, while Meesawat made a vital birdie putt on the 72nd hole to qualify for the Championship for the first time since 2011 at Royal St George’s.
The next event in The Open Qualifying Series will be the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Bay Hill from 7-10 March.
