How does Shane Lowry get over this? The Irishman is a major champion and a Ryder Cup hero but, after his second remarkable implosion in less than two months, he looked like a broken sportsman on Sunday night. And with good reason.
Lowry looked a certainty for his first solo win in almost four years as he cruised three shots ahead with three to play at the Cognizant Classic in Florida. And then he hit it in the lake on consecutive holes and lost by two.
This was not one watery grave. It was a pair, situated directly next to each other.
“I had this tournament in my hands – and I threw it away,” Lowry confessed. “What more can I say? That’s twice this year so far. I’m getting good at it.”
Credit to Colombia’s Nico Echavarria because he birdied the 17th to grasp the opportunity as his more illustrious rival completely capitulated. Yet, this was so obviously a case of a big name losing it. And in dramatic fashion, at that.
After going through his first 15 holes in six under and appearing so impervious and magnificent, Lowry inexplicably pushed it into the lake on the 16th, leading to a double bogey. No matter, he was still one clear but, then, on the 17th, he sliced it at least 60 yards into the hazard again. “Jesus Christ,” Lowry said. Another double bogey.
Lowry had a chance to take it to a play-off and actually gave it a good go from the greenside bunker on the last, but that unlikely eagle attempt zipped by. Clearly devastated, he missed the resulting seven-footer. It meant he was not even outright runner-up, having to share the honours with Taylor Moore and Austin Smotherman, two Americans who, for so long during that final round, never believed they would tie with Lowry.
“You have no choice do you? I have a tee time next Thursday at Bay Hill and I have no choice but to move on,” Lowry said.
“The hardest thing about today is that I have never won in front of my four-year-old and she was there waiting for me. I only wanted it for her, I do not care about anything else. To see her little ginger head running out on the 18th green would have been one of the most special things in the world.
“I thought I had it. I did not get ahead of myself but I felt comfortable. I tried to get a lot out of my three-iron on 16 and did the only thing I could not really do.”
Echavarria was stunned by the outcome. “I thought I was playing for second place,” he said. “And then... well, he hit it in the water on the 16th and 17th.”
In truth, he cannot have been that surprised. Because this is becoming a recurring theme for the 38-year-old. Indeed, this was even worse than Lowry’s first event of this season, at the Dubai Invitational.
Lowry was a shot clear on the 18th and contrived to mess up with a double bogey. It was brutal and Lowry labelled it “a disaster”. Goodness knows how you would describe this collapse. He was a few shots clear in Philadelphia last year and could not get over the line. His winless run must be becoming on the padded-wall side of frustrating. The cruel whispers will persist of Lowry being a “choker”.