Lowry in Ryder Cup vow after Gleneagles slip

Shane Lowry felt like he let a great chance slip in the Johnnie Walker Championship. Picture Stuart Adams www.golftourimages.com:Like the Terminator, Shane Lowry vows he’ll be back. In this case, it’s a 2014 Ryder Cup debut that’s got the Clara man fired up after he felt he’d blown a huge chance to win the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

The Offaly star, 26, was devastated to drop two shots in his last four holes and miss out on a third European Tour victory that could have catapulted him into the world’s Top-60.

Lowry birdied the first two holes, bogeyed the third but then holed a long putt for birdie at the seventh to set up a hot finish.

The world No 82 made three birdies in four holes from the 11th - the pick of them a tap in at the 13th -  to get to within a shot of the lead on 16 under par with four to go.

Shane Lowry plays from the rough at Gleneagles. Picture Stuart Adams www.golftourimages.comWith two par-fives to come, he fancied his chances of setting a tough target for the leaders. Instead he bogeyed the 15th, failed to birdie the par-five 16th, dropped another shot at the 17th and then failed to birdie the par-five last.

It all added up to a three under 69 that left him four shots outside a three-way play off for the title which ended with 22-year old Tommy Fleetwood clinching his maiden win ahead of Ricardo Gonzalez and Scot Stephen Gallacher.

Lowry ended up tied for 10th but while he was bitterly disappointed with his finish, he plans to heed the advice of European Ryder Cup skipper Paul McGinley and keep his nose to the grindstone as he battles to make his Ryder Cup debut at the Scottish venue in 13 months’ time.

“I’m very, very disappointed,” Lowry said. “I looked at the leaderboard walking up 18 there and I wasn’t too pleased that 16 under was still leading.

“I had it to 16 under with four holes to play and played the last four holes … awful.”

Lowry was probably relieved that Gallacher eagled the 18th for a 67 to set the clubhouse target at 18 under but he felt he could have got there himself.

“I played some great golf this week and it is just quite disappointing to play the last four holes the way I did,” he said. “I probably got too far ahead of myself when I did get to 16 under.

“If I played those last four holes decently I probably could have played them in two under and at 18 under we’d be sitting here nicely.

“But it was not to be…. It was another good week’s golf for me and I really enjoyed it.”

Asked what went wrong, he said: “I don’t know. Maybe I was just trying too hard to get the job done. I just hit four bad shots in four holes. Four tee shots, four bad shots. It’s disappointing, but sure what can you do.”

Fleetwood and his faithful dog Maisy. “She comes to every event in Scotland, because dogs can do what they want in Scotland, can’t they?” he said. “She came to any amateur event I’ve played in Scotland and at county level. She was always the one supporting.” Picture © Getty ImagesMcGinley has been playing close attention to players who show a particular liking for the venue and Lowry certainly falls into that category.

The two-time European Tour winner knows he will need to make the world’s Top-50 or have a spectacular Ryder Cup campaign to make the team. And while he missed a golden opportunity to impress McGinley by contending to the end, he knows the skipper believes in him.

“I really enjoyed playing with Paul (McGinley, in the first two rounds),” he said. “I know Paul quite well and we get on quite well.

“Obviously it would have been nice to knock it on the head this week and get a win and that puts your name right in the reckoning, if you can do well at all next year.

“When the points start, I will give it my best and hopefully I will be back here in 13 months’ time.

“I’ve been speaking to Paul all week and all he says, ‘Shane, just keep playing the way you are. Just keeping playing well, and if you play well everything will take care of itself. That’s what I am trying to do.”

Gallacher holed a 15-foot eagle putt at the 18th in regulation play to finish on 18 under par, then watched as joint overnight leaders Fleetwood and Gonzalez both birdied the closing hole to match his total and take the tournament into a play-off for the fourth time in its 15-year history.

And it was  22 year old Fleetwood who managed to make birdie again at the first extra hole, two putting from the back edge of the green after Gallacher failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker and Argentine Gonzalez three-putted from over the back of the green.

For Fleetwood, the transition was complete from the youngest winner of the European Challenge Tour Rankings in 2011 to European Tour champion two years later.

“It is unbelievable,” he said. “I’ve been out here on Tour a while and I haven’t even had a top five the last two years.  And then all of a sudden you come out with a win.

“I don’t know how it happened, but it just seemed to come a bit easier this week.  I was nervous as hell on the first green today, and after that, I felt pretty calm and I felt fine within myself.  It was so tight, you couldn’t really do much. It was a bit claustrophobic on the leaderboard.

“To win is just absolutely amazing. You look at all the winners on Tour, and I’ll admit, I’m so jealous when somebody wins, but finally it’s my turn.”

It is only 13 months until Gleneagles hosts the 2014 Ryder Cup, and Fleetwood’s performance outlined his potential, with captain McGinley observing from the Sky Sports studio as the points races behind in Wales this week.

“I wish the points started a week earlier, but there are a lot of players that are a long way ahead of me in the running for a Ryder Cup spot,” said Fleetwood. “The Ryder Cup is a long way off.  

“It’s obviously a lifetime goal and something I want to do, but whether that’s next year or in three years’ time or five years’ time, it doesn’t really matter as long as I can play and achieve a goal.  Next year would be lovely, that’s for sure.”

Lowry earned €29,283 to boost his chances of qualfying for the Seve Trophy in October as Michael Hoey’s four under 68 helped him pick up €14,049 for a share of 28th on 10 under.

Peter Lawrie (71) and Simon Thornton (74) got €4,574 as they tied for 58th on four with Gareth Maybin (77) and McGinley (75) earning just €3,921 for joint 63rd on three under.

Complete final round scores from the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles (par 72)

270 T Fleetwood  (Eng) 68 65 67 70, S Gallacher (Sco) 71 68 64 67, R Gonzalez (Arg) 65 65 70 70,

271 B Wiesberger  (Aut) 65 66 72 68, S Henry  (Sco) 72 65 67 67,

272 P Waring  (Eng) 75 63 67 67, B Rumford (Aus) 66 69 69 68, E Grillo (Arg) 71 66 69 66,

273 T Olesen (Den) 71 68 66 68,

274 R Ramsay  (Sco) 69 68 69 68, D Drysdale (Sco) 71 67 68 68, S Lowry  (Irl) 68 70 67 69, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 69 67 67,

275 M Madsen  (Den) 70 70 67 68, C Lee (Sco) 69 67 71 68, D Horsey (Eng) 70 68 69 68,

276 D Howell (Eng) 71 70 67 68, T Jaidee (Tha) 66 69 73 68, G Boyd  (Eng) 71 69 68 68, A Hansen (Den) 70 69 68 69, T Lewis (Eng) 67 71 67 71, R Fisher (Eng) 66 72 66 72,

277 F Andersson Hed (Swe) 68 67 66 76, J Parry (Eng) 71 66 70 70, E Kofstad (Nor) 71 70 68 68, R Finch  (Eng) 73 67 68 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 68 71 70 68,

278 E Pepperell (Eng) 72 66 72 68, P Lawrie (Sco) 70 67 71 70, M Foster (Eng) 66 67 73 72, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 70 66 72, S Dyson  (Eng) 72 67 71 68, M Hoey  (Nir) 68 72 70 68, B Koepka  (USA) 68 66 75 69,

279 M Tullo (Chi) 69 71 70 69, J Sjöholm (Swe) 68 71 71 69, A Quiros  (Esp) 70 67 68 74, R Santos  (Por) 69 72 71 67, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 71 69 71 68, M Nixon (Eng) 68 71 71 69, G Havret  (Fra) 67 69 70 73,

280 D Fichardt (RSA) 69 70 72 69, A Snobeck  (Fra) 72 69 69 70, M Southgate  (Eng) 72 68 69 71, S Wakefield (Eng) 70 71 68 71, F Molinari (Ita) 69 67 73 71, G Stal  (Fra) 69 71 71 69, A Levy (Fra) 70 71 67 72,

281 E De La Riva  (Esp) 68 72 71 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 68 71 70 72, A Sullivan (Eng) 67 73 73 68,

282 O Fisher  (Eng) 66 70 69 77, G Wright  (Wal) 69 72 70 71, J Campillo (Esp) 69 71 67 75, S Hansen (Den) 69 71 74 68, C Doak (Sco) 69 69 69 75,

283 J Morrison  (Eng) 72 69 70 72,

284 P Lawrie (Irl) 71 67 75 71, I Garrido (Esp) 66 73 72 73, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 71 75 69, T Levet (Fra) 71 70 71 72, S Thornton (Irl) 74 67 69 74,

285 P McGinley (Irl) 68 71 71 75, D Willett  (Eng) 72 69 68 76, G Maybin (Nir) 68 70 70 77,

286 L Jensen (Den) 70 71 69 76, M Jonzon (Swe) 71 70 72 73, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 69 75 72,

287 M Both (Aus) 69 70 72 76, M Wiegele  (Aut) 69 70 74 74,

291 N Fenwick (Sco) 75 66 74 76,

292 J Olazábal (Esp) 73 68 76 75,