Lowry secures FedEx Cup berth with 72nd hole heroics
Shane Lowry of Ireland putts on the ninth green during the second round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on August 14, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Keane/Getty Images)
Shane Lowry made an incredible par save at the last to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs by finishing tied 23rd in the Wyndham Championship.
The Offaly star (33) saw his title chances evaporate when he followed his second-round 63 with a pedestrian 70 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.
He still needed a good final round to move into the top 125 who qualified for this week’s opening Playoff event in Boston and pulled off by hitting a 152-yards wedge inside six feet at the 18th before draining the putt for a 67 to finish on 12-under.
After moving from 131st to 122nd in the standings, a relieved Lowry said: “Yeah, I mean, today shouldn't have been that stressful, but it was. I don't know why. You know, I would be -- you look at what I've achieved in the last year or two, stuff like that shouldn't really be as stressful as it was, but it was. It's a big deal. We all know if we can make it to Boston that a good week there, you know, can do big things.
“Look, I'm happy to make it if I do, and hopefully I can go and play some good golf next week. Obviously the goal next week would be to make Chicago. Then the goal from there is to make it to East Lake, but that would be a hell of a three weeks. I need to do something very special.
“But I feel like I'm playing good golf. To be honest, I feel like all that outside stuff got in my way a little bit over this weekend. I felt like I was in a great position heading into the weekend, I just struggled yesterday. Then today I got off to a great start and it was going lovely. Then the last few holes, it was almost like, you know, you're playing on the cut mark. It was strange.”
After mixing birdies at the third, fourth, sixth and ninth with a bogey at the seventh, Lowry birdied the 13th, the got up and down from 168 yards for par at the 14th to keep his hopes alive.
But after three-putting the 178-yard 16th from 40 feet, he recovered from a drive into trouble at the last with some late magic. Scores
“Like I said, it shouldn't really be that stressful for me, but it was,” Lowry said. “I'm thankful of that on the last because I had a similar situation here three years ago, I needed to make birdie on the last to get in and I had the exact same shot as I had there and I hit wedge to the front of the green and I hit wedge there to about six feet, so that was nice.”
Seamus Power needed a top-four finish to make the top 125 but tied for 27th on 10-under after a 66 as Jim Herman (42) clinched a dream FedEx Cup move, backing up his third-round 61 with a 63 to win by a shot from Billy Horschel on 21-under and move from 192nd to 54th in the FedEx Cup race.
Power will still has a provisional PGA Tour card for the 2020-21 season, which starts with the Safeway Open in California on September 10.
On the European Tour, Sam Horsfield (€156,825) made it two wins in his last three starts when he closed with a four-under 67 to win the weather-delayed Celtic Classic by two shots from Belgium’s Thomas Detry on 18-under.
Cormac Sharvin (€6,999) signed for a 73 to tie for 31st on eight-under as Jonathan Caldwell’s 72 (€3,717) left him two shots further back in joint 47th. Scores
Sharvin was joint ninth overnight but an early triple bogey at the fourth, followed by a bogey at the fifth, scuppered his title chances.
On the PGA Tour Champions, Jerry Kelly ($450,000) closed with a 69 to win by two strokes from Scott Parel on three-under and by three from Colin Montgomerie and Miguel Angel Jiménez.
Darren Clarke ($30,750) tied for 23rd on nine-over after rounds of 75, 70, 72 and 72. Scores
