After somehow blowing a three-shot lead in the final stages of the Cognizant Classic on Sunday afternoon, Shane Lowry’s agony was compounded by having his young daughter watching the nightmare unfold.
The Irishman looked on course for a commanding victory at Palm Beach Gardens but hit his tee shots into water on the 16th and 17th holes to record costly back-to-back double bogeys.
It cleared the way for Nico Echavarria of Colombia to close out a two-stroke victory on 17 under, with Lowry slipping back into a three-way tie for second on 15 under.
To his credit, Lowry stepped up and spoke to the media moments after his scarcely believable collapse and said the heartbreak hit harder with his daughter nearby.
‘I’m obviously extremely disappointed,’ Lowry said. ‘I had the tournament in my hands and I threw it away. What more can I say?
‘The hardest thing about today is that I’ve never won in front of my four-year-old.
Shane Lowry somehow blew a three-shot lead with three holes left at the Cognizant Classic
Lowry said the loss hurt because he has never won with daughter Ivy watching him play
‘She was there waiting for me and I only wanted it for her today, I didn’t care about anything else, I wanted so bad to see her little ginger head running out on the 18th green would have been the most special thing in the world.
‘I thought I had it, I thought I was going to win.’
Lowry has two children, Iris and Ivy, with his wife Wendy. It is Ivy who Lowry, a major winner at the 2019 British Open, has never won in front of.
Lowry has scar tissue from this particular event, having led until the latter, rain-hit stages in 2022 and also failing to convert a final-day advantage into victory two years ago.
‘I played unbelievable all day and then one bad shot on 16 and it completely threw me for the last three holes. It’s never happened to me before,’ he explained.
‘I said to Darren (Reynolds, his caddie) “how do I feel like this now when I went through what I did last September at Bethpage (at the Ryder Cup) and I got through it fine?”‘
‘It was weird out there, I just couldn’t feel the club face on the last three holes after my tee shot on 16, it was strange.’
Echavarria, meanwhile, posted a flawless 66 for his final round to claim victory.
Brooks Koepka, meanwhile, finished in a tie for ninth on 10 under after a final-round 65, his best showing since returning to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf.
