Monday 10 August 2015 15:30, UK
Ireland's Shane Lowry held off the challenge of three major champions to claim the biggest victory of his career at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Beginning the final round two adrift of former US Open winners Justin Rose and Jim Furyk and with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson moving into contention, Lowry posted four birdies and produced a series of impressive recovery shots on his way to a four-under 66 and a two-shot win at Firestone.
"It's hard to believe but I played good today," Lowry told Sky Sports 4. "I was quite nervous out there towards the end but made a lot of good decisions, hit the ball well and got a bit of luck as well which was nice.
"It's great to be able to pull something off. I was kind of doubting myself a little this year, things haven't been going my way but when you come out the other end it's always nice."
A 15-foot birdie at the second was followed by another at the eighth to move Lowry in to a share of the lead, before a tap-in gain at the tenth after a spectacular recovery from a wayward tee shot pulled Lowry two clear of the chasing pack.
Watson halved the deficit on the 13th by rolling in a fourth birdie in six holes, as did Furyk at the 11th before he bogeyed the next after chipping off the green.
Lowry found the bunker off the 14th tee but was able to drill in a 20-foot putt to save par, which restored his two-shot cushion as Watson dropped a stroke at the 15th.
"That was massive," Lowry admitted. "The bunker was pretty dead and even with my pitch I could not go at the flag and just had to hope to hole a long putt."
Watson closed the gap again on the 17th thanks to a superb approach up and over a tree, but couldn’t convert the 25-footer at the last to move alongside Lowry on ten under.
Needing two pars for victory, the Irishman held his nerve to guide in from six feet at the 17th but appeared in trouble when he pulled his tee shot at the last a long way left and into trees.
With a good lie in the rough, Lowry powered a wedge over the trees to find the green, before slotting in from 12 feet to complete a famous victory – his first on the PGA Tour.
"I was trying to get it on the front right of the green but pulled it a little bit, it went through the tree and rest is history," Lowry added.
Near-misses
Rose was plagued by a poor performance on the greens, three-putting the long second for par and, after getting back into contention with a chip-in birdie on the ninth, also three-putting the next from just 15 feet.
The Englishman finished in a tie for third with fellow overnight joint-leader Furyk, who recorded his tenth top-ten finish in the Bridgestone but has now failed to win 10 tournaments in succession in which he led or shared the lead after 54 holes.
Three birdies on the back nine from Robert Streb saw him finish in the top five, while a four-under 66 from world No 2 Jordan Spieth saw him close the week seven off the pace in a tie for tenth.
An early eagle briefly moved Ian Poulter within two of the leaders before a series of errors saw him close a bogey-filled 74, while Dustin Johnson struggled to a six-over 76 after posting two double-bogeys in the space of three holes on the front nine.
