SHANE LOWRY SAID he was delighted with his brilliant final round 63 at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, a score which meant he finished tied for second and just one stroke behind Jon Rahm.
He carded ten birdies before concluding the week with his best finish of the season, finishing 18-under-par in a tie for second with Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
“My Sundays have been poor of late and a couple of my friends texted me saying I was due a good Sunday, so there it is, that’s as good as I can play,” he said speaking with Midland Sport.
“There were probably one or two I left out there, but that’s always the way in golf no matter what score you shoot.
“I’m chuffed with that, hopefully I’ll get a top five finish out of it and get some valuable world ranking points.
“My caddy Dermot said to me after last week that he feels it’s as good as my all-round game has been in a long time.”
Lowry said he felt confident heading into Sunday’s final round and admits that finishing on a high will boost his chances of climbing the world rankings looking ahead to next year’s Ryder Cup.
“I feel quite confident and feel when I get the ball in play that I’m not going to hit a bad iron shot. I managed to hold a few puts today and it was nice.
“I think that I’ve accumulated quite a few Ryder Cup points over the last while and I’m going to have to play really well over the next few months with my schedule to make the team.
“But I’m going to do my best to make the team — it’s my number one goal for next year.
“We’ll see how it goes, hopefully I’m in France and hopefully I can be a part of that team which takes the Ryder Cup back.
“The Rolex series have always been great tournaments and are events to play in. I’ve loved every minute of it and to come back to Europe and be able to compete in top class events — there’s nothing like it.”
Tommy Fleetwood claimed Race to Dubai glory in dramatic fashion as Justin Rose unexpectedly fell away in the final round, which was won by Jon Rahm.
Having claimed two tournament victories in succession to give himself a chance of ending the year as the European Tour’s number one for a second time, Rose led by one overnight in Dubai and remained atop the leaderboard after turning in 32 to reach 19 under on Sunday.
However, Rose’s round then unravelled dramatically with bogeys at the 12th, 14th and 16th and he was left requiring an eagle at the par-five closing hole to deny Fleetwood.
Despite a fine second shot from the rough, Rose had to settle for a birdie and therefore ended the tournament in a four-way share of fourth as Rahm triumphed by one stroke from Lowry and Aphibarnrat.
That meant Fleetwood finished top of the Race to Dubai standings, despite ending the season’s last event outside the top 20 following a closing 74.
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