LOWRY WINS FIRST MAJOR JUMPING TO WORLD NO.17
Week 29

The long-awaited return of The Open Championship to Northern Ireland ended with Shane Lowry keeping the silver claret jug on the Emerald Isle.


The Irishman withstood miserable weather conditions and the weight of local expectation to claim his first Major title with a stunning six shot victory at the 148th Open Championship moving to World No.17.


After posting a record breaking 63 on Saturday evening, Lowry showed a different side to his game on an extremely wet and windy afternoon at Royal Portrush Golf Club as he posted a battling 72 to reach 15 under par and get his hands on the Claret Jug.

21ST JULY 2019 | 02:53 PM

The Open Championship

The long-awaited return of The Open Championship to Northern Ireland ended with Shane Lowry keeping the silver claret jug on the Emerald Isle.

The Irishman withstood miserable weather conditions and the weight of local expectation to claim his first Major title with a stunning six shot victory at the 148th Open Championship moving to World No.17.

After posting a record breaking 63 on Saturday evening, Lowry showed a different side to his game on an extremely wet and windy afternoon at Royal Portrush Golf Club as he posted a battling 72 to reach 15 under par and get his hands on the Claret Jug.

Tommy Fleetwood finished alone in second on nine under, with third placed Tony Finau a further two shots behind the Englishman as the chasing pack felt the full force of the afternoon conditions.

Beginning the day four shots clear of his nearest challenger, Lowry made a nervy start, finding the rough and then sand at the opening hole to card his first bogey since Friday, but he was spared a two shot swing as playing partner Fleetwood missed his eight foot birdie putt.

Lowry's four shot lead was restored at the par three third when Fleetwood made his first bogey of the day after failing to get up and down.


Korn Ferry Tour - Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Chevrolet

24-year-old Kristoffer Ventura will officially call himself a PGA TOUR member next season, as a 1-under 70 secured his card Sunday at the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Chevrolet. He entered the day with a one-shot lead over Lanto Griffin, and despite early troubles, managed to hang on for a two-stroke victory over Andres Gonzales and Chad Ramey.

He finished at 16-under 268 for the tournament. Gonzales and Ramey, who each carded a 4-under 67, tied for second at 14-under 270. Five others, including Griffin, came in at 11-under 273.

“You can say that the start of my career has been tough, and maybe I got the tough part out of the way,” Ventura said. “It just shows that if you keep working hard and believe 100 percent in what you do, great things are going to happen. I trusted that and look where I’m at right now. I’m really humbled.”

Ventura went from having conditional Korn Ferry Tour status with zero starts to a PGA TOUR member in a matter of only eight weeks. It began with a sponsor exemption into the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation last month, where a T3 secured his spot for remainder of the season. Three weeks later, he moved inside The 25 after coming out on top in a three-hole playoff at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank.

After Sunday’s triumph at The Club at Indian Creek, he sits at No. 6 on the points list and has officially locked up his position for the 2019-20 campaign.


Challenge Tour - Euram Bank Open

Calum Hill carded just three bogeys in 72 holes to win the Euram Bank Open, his second European Challenge Tour title, at Golf Club Adamstal and jump into the top 15 on the Order of Merit.

The Scot added a bogey-free 66, four under par, to his opening rounds of 65-64-67 to reach 18 under par and win by four shots ahead of countryman Ewen Ferguson and Portugal’s José-Filipe Lima, who both finished on 14 under par following final rounds of 64 and 65, respectively.

Prior to this week, Hill had endured a mixed season with two top tens and three missed cuts from eight starts. However, a tie for 26th place at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open last week offered glimpses of a return to the type of form which saw him win in only his fifth Challenge Tour start last year, and with his tremendous performance in Austria, he has showed he is truly back to his best.

“I’ve been saying it my coach, management team and parents that I’ve felt like my game was in a nice position, but I haven’t been managing it particularly well,” he said.

“I wasn’t missing in the correct spot if I was missing or my short game wasn’t tight enough to get up and down all the time, so I was making quite a few errors that were a little uncharacteristic, so my scoring was quite poor.

“There were little glimpses of it coming together with a few low scores, but I’ve tightened it up in the last couple of weeks and I’m scoring a lot better.

“I’m very happy with how the day and the week has gone. It’s fantastic to get another win and not only secure next year but it will hopefully push me forward to finishing in the top 15.”

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