SHANE LOWRY HAD a disappointing level-par final round of 71 at the storm-interrupted Cognizant Classic to finish four strokes off the winner, Austin Eckroat, who landed his first PGA Tour title.
The 25-year-old American made three birdies, a bogey and seven pars today to complete a four-under par final round of 67 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
That left overnight leader Eckroat on 17-under, good enough to defeat Australia’s Lee and South African Erik van Rooyen by three strokes in the PGA’s first Monday finish since last year at Pebble Beach.
It was a frustrating day for Lowry, who shared the lead on 13-under going into the final round. The Offaly man had five holes of his final round completed when rain forced play to be suspended yesterday.
Lowry was one-over for his opening five holes so began today at 12-under, with Eckroat on 15-under. Yet where Lowry needed to find momentum to make inroads in Eckroat’s lead, he instead had an inconsistent 13 holes.
He failed to pick up a birdie on the front nine, reaching the turn at two-under for the day. The 36-year-old got his first birdie of the day on the 10th, but then lost that shot on the par-four 11th, where he found water with his drive.
Lowry then rallied with birdies on 12 and 14, but again drove into water off the 15th tee. He had a double-bogey five on the par-three hole, putting him on the back foot.
😡 Shane Lowry splash on 15 @LowryTracker pic.twitter.com/EICtqem5cE
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) March 4, 2024
Another positive response saw Lowry birdie the 16th and 18th holes, placing him in a six-way tie for fourth and his best finish of the season in only his fourth event. Yet he will feel a sense of missed opportunity not to have pushed Eckroat more throughout the day.
“It’s crazy,” Eckroat said. “This has always been my dream, to win on the PGA Tour, and I haven’t won since 2019 — it was a college event — it has been so long. I’m just so happy to do it.
“This is just a dream come true.”
South Korea’s Lee Kyoung-hoon shared fourth on 271 with Americans Jake Knapp and Cameron Young, England’s David Skinns and Lowry.
“It’s not a fun finish whenever you have to hold onto a lead,” Eckroat said. “Then the adversity of sleeping mid-round. Just really happy with how I handled it.”
Lowry’s disappointment will be somewhat tempered by the fact he has earned a sponsor’s invite to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill this week, which will mark his first appearance at a Signature Event this year.
The Signature Event series has been the PGA Tour’s response to the upheaval wrought by LIV, with all of their top players mandated to play in limited field events with elevated purses. Lowry hasn’t played at any of them so far this year, as he finished outside of the Fedex Cup top 50 last year. Rory McIlroy and Seamus Power will also be teeing it up.
– © AFP 2024, with reporting by Gavin Cooney
