Open Championship Recap: Irishman Wins First Major

We can't begin to say we know all about the complicated dynamics between Ireland and Northern Ireland. But it was clear from watching all week that they are in complete unison when it comes to their golf.

As the Open Championship returned to the island of Ireland for the first time in 68 years and only the second time ever, the storybook finish that two countries were rooting for – a winner from Ireland or Northern Island – actually happened. Hallmark could not have written it any better.

"Everybody knows that we're all one country when it comes to golf," Shane Lowry said on Sunday in the immediate aftermath of becoming only the sixth Irishman to win a major championship.
 

Sure, it would've been an even bigger deal for the majority of the fans lining the fairways at Royal Portrush if Rory McIlroy, or even fellow Northern Irishmen Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke, had won the 148th Open on home soil.

But that almost sounds like nitpicking after a week of near golf perfection, and everyone cannot wait for the return to Portrush, now officially the 10th course in the Open rota. It has been promised two more Opens by 2040.

What an incredible achievement for Lowry, a 32-year-old from the northern part of Ireland (but not Northern Ireland). He had come close before in a major, taking a four-stroke lead into the final round of the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, much like he did on Sunday. Only this time there was no collapse, and in a setting where it would've been perfectly understandable. Instead, Lowry pretty much cruised to a six-stroke victory, graciously allowing the engraver to get a nice head start on the Claret Jug.

We saw what the expectations of a favored son did to McIlroy. He hooked his opening tee ball on Thursday out of bounds and spent the next two days fighting furiously for a backdoor made cut. He just missed. So for Lowry to complete the job on what was an incredibly difficult weather day to play even without the weight of winning in your homeland was remarkable. Remember that Justin Rose and Matt Kuchar shot 8-over on Sunday, Xander Schauffele and Sergio Garcia 7-over, Jordan Spieth and even McDowell 6-over.

"You're trying to win an Open in your home country and it's just incredibly difficult," Lowry said.
 

This had been a resurgent year for Lowry long before this week. Since peaking at No. 17 in the world ranking soon after the winning the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone, the previous big win of his career, Lowry had gone downward. Each year his year-end ranking was worse than the previous one, down to No. 75 at the end of 2018. Lowry won his first event of 2019 in Abu Dhabi, then struggled during the spring (missed cuts at Bay Hill, the PLAYERS and the Masters). But he turned it around, with a number of recent top-10s, including at the PGA Championship. Sunday's win brings him back on par to his highest OWGR standing ever, 17th.

But of course right now, Lowry is far higher than No. 17. He is the Champion Golfer of the Year.

And when he walked up 18 and the elated fans crescendo-ed all around him, it rekindled memories of the joy at East Lake last year as Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship. In some ways, this was bigger; this was bigger than golf.

As Rich Lerner said soon after on Golf Channel, "It's not his country, but it feels like it."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Rory McIlroy
What can we say, the pressure was simply too great. It's understandable, even expected. The question now is, how long will it take for McIlroy to recover from this crushing setback. We don't expect much from him this week at the WGC event in Memphis – it's just too soon. And it might be a bit much to expect much from McIlroy in the upcoming playoffs.

Tiger Woods
Like McIlroy, Woods missed the cut by a lot. Just three months after his for-the-ages win at Augusta, he looked every bit his age at Royal Portrush. He's already said he's skipping Memphis this week. The playoffs begin in three weeks. Hard to believe he plays all three events the way his body is reacting. Woods will probably play the playoff opener and, if he seems assured of getting into the field to defend his Tour Championship title, we think he'd skip the second event.

Phil Mickelson
In a week in which Mickelson was honored by the OWGR for staying in the top-50 for 25 consecutive years, he extended one of his worst stretches in years with another missed cut. Yes, Mickelson won at Pebble in February, but since then he's missed 7-of-13 cuts with only one top-35 (T18 at the Masters). He's still well within the top-50 OWGR – 1,338 straight weeks now, incredibly light-years ahead of No. 2 all-time Ernie Els at 965 – but Mickelson might have to turn it around over the next few months to be assured of being a Presidents Cup captain's pick.

Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood knows what's it like to be a local boy at an Open and not deliver (2017, Royal Birkdale). He also has proven there is life after such crestfallenness. He tied for second last year at the U.S. Open and did so again at Royal Portrush. It had been a terrible year at the majors for Fleetwood beforehand, with nothing inside the top-35 at anyone of them. Like some others, he might have a hard time getting mentally prepared to play this week at Memphis.

Tony Finau
Has there ever been a backdoor top-three in a major? We didn't see Finau on TV till he was on the 18th green. It had been a down year for Finau, but it was his second top-five in a major and going back to last year he's been top-10 in five of the eight.

Lee Westwood
The 46-year-old Englishman who has come close so many times at majors tied for fourth at Royal Portrush for his fifth career top-five at an Open. The big significance here is that it gets him into next year's Masters. Westwood missed Augusta the past two years after playing in 18 of them through the years. He's a two-time Masters runner-up, including just three years ago, and we just saw he still has the game to perform at favorable courses.

Robert MacIntyre
The 22-year-old Scot is really starting to make a name for himself. His tie for sixth in his first career major piggybacks nicely on a pair of recent European Tour runners-up at the British Masters and Made in Denmark tournament. He missed a Masters invite by one stroke, but the way he's going he may yet still get to Augusta in 2020. MacIntyre is now up to 102nd in the world. Not only did we see his great golf game at Royal Portrush, we saw his fire, as he chastised veteran Kyle Stanley at one point for not yelling "fore" after a wayward shot. Stanley was not pleased.

Adam Scott
Scott had been amid an incredible bounce-back season to again climb inside the top-20 OWGR. But he face-palmed at the Open. Maybe the only explanation is: It's sports, they're human beings, stuff happens.

Jason Day
Day had been decent, but not great, at the Open through the years. He had never missed a cut in eight tries with top-25s in three of the past four years. So better things ahead with Stevie Williams on the bag? Nope. Day missed the cut. How long will this partnership last?

Marc Leishman
Good luck figuring out how the big Aussie will do next year after missing the cut on Friday. Leishman has a wild history at the Open. In the past eight, he has three top-sixs, but the other five have been outside the top-50, including three missed cuts.

Ian Poulter
He's now missed the cut in four of his past five Opens. When's the next Ryder Cup?

Zach Johnson
Even amid the declining play and position in the world rankings the past few years, Johnson could always look forward to a two-week stretch on the golf calendar. Year after year, he delivered at the John Deere and at the Open, where he had finished top-25 every year since his 2015 victory. Well, at the Deere, he made the cut on the number and tied for 37th. At the Open, he missed the cut. Johnson is now well outside the top-100 and hasn't had a top-10 anywhere since November.

Tom Lehman
It was a touching scene, seeing the 1996 Open champion walk up 18 on Friday alongside his son/caddie. Lehman missed the cut and, at age 60, this was his final Open. He could've come back with a top-10, but otherwise the "lifetime" exemption for former Open champs ends after they turn 60. Mark Calcavecchia, the most long-ago champion still eligible, can come back for a final time next year. But the 1989 champion didn't play this year, so we'll just have to wait and see about 2020 at Royal St. George's. David Duval has 13 more years of eligibility. Oy.