PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – The first sign of contender futility came, fittingly enough, on the opening hole Sunday at The Open Championship. Shane Lowry hit a “ropyâ€� tee shot into the rough. Playing partner Tommy Fleetwood hit two “great’ shots to set up a birdie. Lowry was left with an 8-foot putt just to save bogey. What started as a four-shot lead for Lowry could’ve been reduced to one in a flash. With 17 holes left, the entire field would’ve received a boost. Instead, Lowry made his clutch bogey putt. Fleetwood missed his short birdie attempt. Yes, Lowry’s lead was reduced to three shots, but it could’ve been much worse. Related: Final leaderboard | Lowry goes from despair to Claret Jug | Hometown club cheers for Lowry And in the end, no chaser was really able to apply much pressure on Lowry, who ended up winning by six shots – the largest margin in a major in five years and the largest at The Open since Louis Oosthuizen’s seven-stroke win in 2010. “The first few holes, when you start four back, pretty crucial,â€� said Fleetwood after his 3-over 74. “I didn’t do a good enough job of pressing at that point.â€� No one did. Lowry did his part, shooting a 1-over 72, a terrific score given the pressure of holding the lead and the intense weather that kicked in mid-round. He never gave anyone an opening, forcing the rest of the field to make moves. Fleetwood had his opportunities but missed too many early putts. He failed to convert a birdie chance at the par-5 second, and then missed a short par putt at the par-3 third after his nice recovery off a poor tee shot. He hit a lull in the middle of the round when rain, then strong winds made their presence known. And when Lowry did stumble with a bogey at 14, Fleetwood responded with double-bogey. “14 was killer,â€� Fleetwood said, who finished solo second. At least he was close to keeping up. J.B. Holmes, who started the day six back of the lead, opened with a double bogey at the first on his way to a front-nine 41. Then it got worse. Holmes had been the tournament leader in fairways hit and ranked T-2 in greens in regulation, but his tee-to-green game failed him Sunday. He started the back nine with triple bogey-double bogey en route to a 16-over 87. Holmes’ playing partner, Brooks Koepka, showed he was human after 15 impressive rounds in majors this season. Koepka started with four consecutive bogeys to shoot himself out of it. Still, his 74 left him at 6 under and tied for fourth to go along with his win and two runner-up finishes this season in the majors. He also moved into No. 1 in the FedExCup standings with just two weeks left in the regular season. It’s the first time in his career he’s led the FedExCup at any point of the season. “As a whole it’s awesome,â€� Koepka said of his results. “That’s what I’m striving to do, play well in the big events. And I sort of did that. This week is disappointing, but the rest of them have been — it’s been great. I’m not going to lie. It’s been fun. I would have liked to have just made a few more and finished it off with a bunch of second places.â€� With the challenging weather – Lee Westwood called it “some of the toughest conditions I’ve played in an Open Championshipâ€� – few players were able to find red figures. In fact, of the top 10 on the final leaderboard, only Bob MacIntyre (68) and Tyrrell Hatton (69) shot under par. Tony Finau managed an even-par 71 to finish solo third. That’s his best finish in any major – and his fifth top-10 in his last eight major starts. “My game travels,â€� Finau said. “I continue to just prove to myself one day I can win one of these. No doubt.â€�

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COUNTY OFFALY, Ireland – The celebration began in earnest after he parred Royal Portrush’s treacherous 16th hole, the one ominously nicknamed “Calamity.â€� The crowd crammed into the cozy clubhouse of Esker Hills Golf Club started singing “The Offaly Roverâ€� to celebrate the impending triumph of its local hero. “A rover I have been and a rover I will stay, But to that faithful county dear I will return some day,â€� they bellowed. The Claret Jug has travelled the world, but it was headed to County Offaly after Shane Lowry’s win at The Open Championship. His victory held extra significance for the Irish people because this was just the second Open held on their island. Related: Leaderboard | Winner’s bag The same song was likely sung when Brendan Lowry and two of his brothers helped County Offaly upset County Kerry in the final of the 1982 All-Ireland Championship. It’s still considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Gaelic Games. Now, 225 miles south of Royal Portrush, Brendan’s son was being serenaded by the hometown fans. Men wiped away tears, and lifted their children into the air so they could watch him hole out on the 18th green. Shane Lowry was once that child running through Esker Hills’ clubhouse. Now he was a major champion. He used to ride his bike some three miles from nearby Clara, then play up to 45 holes. The older men would watch him practice as they enjoyed tea and scones in the clubhouse. “Rain, hail or snow, Shane Lowry was out there,â€� said longtime Esker Hills member John O’Shea. Shane Lowry started showing up at Esker Hills around age 12. He’d played a bit of pitch-and-putt, but he came to this hilly, inland links to start playing the full-length version of the game. Lowry’s athletic lineage helped him pick up the game quickly, but no one would’ve predicted what happened Sunday. Esker Hills has about 300 members. They thought they’d hit the big time when Lowry earned a spot in the 2009 Irish Open. Then he went on to win the thing while he was still an amateur. He brought the trophy back to Esker Hills the next day. “We thought it couldn’t get better than that night,â€� said Ray Molloy, one of Esker Hills’ four directors. Seven years later, they gathered in the clubhouse to watch him win a major. He had a four-shot lead entering the final round of the 2016 U.S. Open. It was a somber evening in the one-story, wood-paneled clubhouse. Lowry made just one birdie and finished three shots behind Dustin Johnson. He had a four-shot lead again Sunday. The parallelism wasn’t lost on Lowry or anyone in the Esker Hills clubhouse. There was hope that his experience at Oakmont, and playing on a links course, would lead to a different result. A member who owns a local printing company made decorations. As Lowry was warming up at Royal Portrush, Molloy’s 26-year-old daughter, Michelle, was hanging banners and bunting. Yellow and green flags – representing the colors of County Offlay — were strewn across the pro shop and bar. Yellow signs read “The Open Comes to Esker Hills.â€� Michelle, a 26-year-old brand manager for a chocolate company, helps her father with the club’s social media. This working-class club has a tight-knit membership that some compare to a family. Visitors can play the club for around 30 euros on weekends (that may change after Lowry’s win). “There’s no airs and graces here. What you see is what you get,â€� said John’s brother, Willie O’Shea. The residents of rural Offlay are a humble people. Shane still shows up to give the prizes at the junior club championship. He ensures that every participant leaves with a prize. Two weeks ago, he arranged for the club’s juniors to walk inside the ropes with him during a practice round for the Irish Open (his playing partner that day was Tommy Fleetwood, who joined him in The Open’s final group). Shane’s parents, Brendan and Bridget, still come to the course several times per week. It isn’t odd to see Shane at a local sporting event or pub. This Open was the first sell-out in the tournament’s history, so those who didn’t have a ticket to get in Royal Portrush flocked to the Esker Hills clubhouse to cheer for Lowry. Among the crowd was the club’s lady captain, Aislinn Hackett, who taught Shane at St. Francis Boys School in Clara. “He was a mischievous boy,â€� she said with a glint in her eye. The members gave Shane a standing ovation when he stepped to the first tee Sunday. “C’mon Shane!â€� they yelled between shots. Patrons clinked glasses and shushed the crowd if it was too loud as he prepared to hit, though. The room quickly filled, with just a narrow gap in the crowd for a harried wait staff to bring out orders of fish and chips, curry and fried mushrooms. Empty bottles of Guinness and cider – “It’s our summer drink,â€� one man said sardonically as the rain poured down – were quickly swooped up by Ray Molloy. The lithe 64-year-old quickly moved between the clubhouse’s four rooms, clearing glasses, talking to members and conducting interviews. Just a few hours after Lowry tapped in for victory, Ray’s phone had more than 300 unanswered text messages. “It’s his baby,â€� Michelle said of the course. “He loves welcoming people.â€� Ray Molloy was a popular interview subject for the dozen journalists who descended on Esker Hills. They pressed against the walls to witness a small town’s exuberance as it watched one of its own win the game’s oldest championship. The cameras’ spotlights illuminated the windowless bar. The club has four directors – Ray, Joe and Donal Molloy, and Donal O’Brien – but Ray handles the day-to-day operations. The club’s land line gets forwarded to his cell phone in the evenings so that he never misses a call. The Molloy brothers were born just a few yards from the clubhouse, in a house that still stands but is uninhabitable. O’Brien and Joe Molloy farmed the land that is now Esker Hills until the mid-90s. With few courses nearby, they decided to convert their farmland into an inland links course. They tasked Irish golf legend Christy O’Connor, Junior to build it. Within an hour of seeing the property, O’Connor told them, “I will make this place famous,â€� according to Ray Molloy. Ice Age glaciers carved the extreme elevation changes of Esker Hills and created a sandy soil similar to the seaside links. Those characteristics helped Shane Lowry at Royal Portrush, the heaving links on the north coast of Northern Ireland. “The awkward stances and shots have served him well,â€� said Willie Allen, the club’s longtime greenskeeper. “He’s a natural talent.â€� Esker Hills’ clubhouse is a shrine to the club’s most famous member. The windows over the doorway to the bar read, “Home of Shane Lowry, Irish Open Champion.â€� They’ll soon need to be updated. His staff bag and trophies from his amateur days are housed in a display case. A sign outside the clubhouse lists his professional victories, including the 2015 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. There are signed flags from those wins hanging on the walls and a large photo from Lowry’s Irish Open win. The band was still playing past 10 p.m. Sunday. This time, the crowd was singing a different song. “We are the champions, Shane is the championnnnn,â€� they bellowed. The champion golfer of the year, to be specific.

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He wondered whether he was good enough to win a major. On Sunday at The Open, he answered the question for himself and all of golf.

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He wondered if he was good enough to win a major. On Sunday at The Open, he answered the question for himself and all of golf.

Click here to read the full article…