Turning onto the back nine at Harbour Town on Sunday, the RBC Heritage was Shane Lowry’s to lose. That’s exactly what he did.
Lowry began Sunday’s final round in South Carolina a stroke off the lead held by Harold Varner, III, with whom he was paired. A string of three consecutive birdies midway through the front nine saw him take the lead, which he maintained with another birdie at 11. Patrick Cantlay was a stroke behind Lowry at that point, with a gaggle of others, including Varner and Sepp Straka (who rallied to deny Lowry in the Honda Classic), another stroke behind.
Lowry’s tee shot at the par-3 14th hole landed in a bunker short of the green. He then pitched onto the green and his ball took off on a journey toward the water on the other side. Hitting 4 after dropping in the fringe, he did well to knock his ball to within a foot of the pin and then sink his putt for double bogey.
The damage was considerable. Lowry now trailed Cantlay by a stroke. Unable to do better than par on the four remaining holes, he settled for a share of third place as Cantlay and the late-charging Jordan Spieth went to a sudden-death playoff, which Spieth took on the first extra hole.
The RBC continued a fine run of form that has seen Lowry finish in the top 15 in his last five stroke-play outings. Yet, he hasn’t won since the 2019 British Open, a source of frustration for him. He managed a bogey-free 66 in the first round, which left him three strokes off the lead.
The wind posed a problem on Friday, when he finished a stroke over par with 72 and fell off the pace.
“It was tough out there,” Lowry said after Friday’s round. “There’s a few holes that are just an absolute disaster out there if you hit a bad shot. Like 14, you’re standing there, and I’m a couple off the lead, and you’re one swing away from having to think about the cut mark. It’s so tight out there.”
Lowry found the course to be “very gettable” on Saturday and the 65 he shot he described as the worst he could have done considering how well he was striking the ball.
“I feel like I could have shot two or three or four better today,” Lowry said after Saturday’s round. “But look, I would have taken 65 before I went out.”
The course was equally gettable on Sunday, although Lowry didn’t do his share of taking. Of those six rivals who joined Lowry in third place, only Varner (who shot 70) forged a higher number than did Lowry, with 69.
That Friday wind was especially irksome to Graeme McDowell, who finished joint-21st, only five strokes behind Spieth and Cantlay. Like Lowry, he started with a bogey-free 66 but then blew up to 76 (no birdies) on Friday and was lucky to make the cut with not a stroke to spare.
McDowell got his form back on the weekend, posting rounds of 66 (again, bogey free) and 68 over a course on which he won this event back in 2013.
The action moves to New Orleans for this week’s Zurich Classic, a team event, in which McDowell is teamed with Seamus Power, while Lowry tests his luck alongside Ian Poulter.
LPGA TOUR
One bad round again derailed Stephanie Meadow. This time it came in the fourth and final round of the Lotte Championship in Oahu, Hawaii. She began the day tied for fourth place, four strokes off the lead after having posted rounds of 71, 70 and 69.
Although she stuck herself with four bogeys in the first round, five birdies helped to wash those away. She kept relatively clean cards over the next two rounds, with just a single blemish per day.
The final round got off to a rough start with a double bogey at the second hole. Matters only got worse as she reached the turn in 42. She straightened herself out on the back nine, however, avoiding bogeys altogether, while picking up one birdie.
Meadow finished the event tied for 18th place, 10 strokes off the winning score posted by Hyo Joo Kim.
Leona Maguire continues to struggle. An opening 71 was encouraging but she flirted with the cut line as she shot 75 the next day. A subsequent 76 only darkened the mood, although she seemed to have gotten some things cleared up, having closed with 69. She finished tied for 48th place.
The ladies are in California this week for the Los Angeles Open.
