'It would mean the world to me to knock this one off' — Shane Lowry dreaming of Doonbeg glory
Shane Lowry in 2026 and at Baltray in 2009. Picture: DP World Tour
Shane Lowry has suffered more than his fair share of heartbreak this season, but riding the wave of emotion generated by a massive home crowd, he feels ready to end his four-year drought and claim his second Amgen Irish Open win at Doonbeg.
Seventeen years after he held off Robert Rock in a play-off to win the Irish Open as a 22-year-old amateur, he takes a four-shot lead over Denmark's Jacob Skov Olesen into the final round.
"I'm feeling good," he said. "I felt great out there. I really did. I felt like I was just staying in shot by shot and doing my thing.
"Obviously, it's a big day for me tomorrow. I'm going to be leading my home tournament, and it would mean the world to knock this one off.
"So I'm just going to have to put my head down, get back to work whenever my tee time is tomorrow, and give it a run."
He needed nine singles putts on the back nine to build his lead, but while six were for par, backing up a course-record 62 with a five-under 65 shows he's got the game to get over the line.
"I felt like I did a great job today of just staying in the moment and playing my own game," he said. "I had so much fun out there in the back nine.
"Crowds are incredible, and they cheered me on the whole way home.·Hopefully they'll do the same tomorrow."
He had a four-shot lead heading into the final round of the 2016 US Open at Oakmont and lost to Dustin Johnson. But after converting another four-shot lead into victory at The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019 and going to become a Ryder Cup hero last year, there's no doubt that the field has its work cut out.
"It would mean the world to me to knock this one off"
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 12, 2026
Shane Lowry leads by four going into tomorrow's Amgen Irish Open final round: https://t.co/A6ije7e6aM pic.twitter.com/bLowSfnGkO
As for that incredible run of single putts — 10 in 11 holes from the eighth and nine in a row on the back nine—he was grinning from ear to ear.
"I was walking down 18 and it popped into my head," he said. "It's amazing what you think of. It was nice.
"But I was just holing the putts you're supposed to. Obviously I holed a couple of nice ones, but you know a lot of them are in the sort of six-to-seven-foot range, which are the ones that you really think you should hole, and if you miss, it kind of annoys you a little bit. So it was nice to see the ball going in.
"I was out of position a few times, but I knew if I could put myself back in position that I was rolling the ball well. So let's hope that stays the way through tomorrow.
"I'm normally the one watching other people do it, so why not me sometimes? So it's nice.
"I'm seeing my lines well and starting the ball where I want, and they're going in, and hopefully that stays that way for another 24 hours."
Perhaps the most crucial putt he holed came at the eighth, where he brushed in an 11-footer to regain the lead after Olesen made eagle to tie momentarily.
"That was big," he said. "I felt my round was gone a bit stale and a bit slow, and it kind of got me going again.
"He [Olesen] played great today. If he plays the same tomorrow, I'm going to have to play better to beat him. He's a great young player. He was impressive out there.
"So I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Final group, leading my home tournament, it's nice."
Around 20,000 fans are expected for the final round, and Lowry wants to give them something to cheer about.
"I obviously want to try and enjoy it as much as I can," he said. "But there's only one way I'm going to enjoy tomorrow, and we all know what that is.
"It's been an amazing week so far. I think Ireland has done great again with another amazing golf tournament, and I'm happy to be at the top of the leaderboard."
As for the distraction of Donald Trump landing as he played the third, he grinned: "I was ready for any distractions… I just got on with it because I feel like I've been around long enough to deal with stuff like that.
"It was a pretty insane day, and I'm just happy where I'm sitting this time."
Winning, he said, "would mean a lot."
He planned a quiet dinner with his friends and coaching team to plan for Sunday.
"If I can't feel good now, I never will," he said. "I've got a nice lead going into tomorrow. Hopefully it's going to be a great day."
As for the support, it hit home as he made that ninth consecutive one-putt at the 18th for par.
"I knew it was for my ninth one-putt in a row, so I pretty thought that was pretty cool," he said. "Never done that before. I wish they were all for birdies, but they weren't.
"I just look around at the crowd, the support I got. It's late on a Saturday night. People have kids out there. They have to get home. So I'm chuffed that they're still behind to support me."
