Ireland’s Shane Lowry stays calm to win first major at the Open as rivals fade
• The 32-year-old becomes Ireland’s second Open champion
• England’s Tommy Fleetwood finished second on nine under
Shane Lowry captured his first golf major in winning the Open at Royal Portrush by keeping his cool to post a final-round score of 72, one over par for the day, 15 under for the championship, to finish six shots clear of England’s Tommy Fleetwood, his playing partner.
Lowry was roared home by a partisan, often rain-sodden crowd on the County Antrim course as he became only the second winner of the Claret Jug from the Republic of Ireland. Padraig Harrington was the winner in both 2008 and 2009 while Rory McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, was an Open winner in 2014.