FRESHLY CROWNED OPEN champion Shane Lowry has soared back up the golf world rankings to match the career-high position of 17th he achieved four years ago.
Lowry, who threatened to drop outside the world’s top 100 just 12 months ago as he missed the cut at the Open at Carnoustie, became the fifth Irishman to lift the famous Claret Jug at Royal Portrush on Sunday.
Starting the year in 75th position, Lowry ended his three-year drought with victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January and then continued his dream season by landing his maiden Major title on the Dunluce Links.
Lowry returns to the world’s top 20 from 33rd, picking up 100 ranking points for his Portrush exploits, having previously risen to 17th on the back of his success at Bridgestone in 2015.
In addition to joining an illustrious list of former Open champions, Lowry — who also tops the Race to Dubai standings and is 18th on the FedEx Cup charts –pocketed €1,718,320, bringing his overall prize money for the 2019 season to €3,270,862.
In comparison, the 32-year-old’s earnings for 2018 were €892,000.
The world’s top five — Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods — remains unchanged after the final Major of the year, while Francesco Molinari jumps ahead of Bryson DeChambeau into sixth.
Graeme McDowell drops one position to 98th, Paul Dunne falls to 200th and Pádraig Harrington is 314th.
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