Shane Lowry regained his Race to Dubai leading initiative thanks to a 15th place finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland.
Lowry birdied four of his closing five holes in a final round 68 on the Old Course for a 15-under par total.
It left the Irishman trailing seven shots adrift of 27-year old Frenchman Victor Perez, who found himself doused in champers in posting a closing 70 to capture a maiden Tour title by a shot at 22-under par.
Lowry’s closing handful of holes made amends for day three when he let slip the possible chance of breaking the magical 60 in muscling his way to nine-under par through 15 holes before dropping shots at his next two in a score of 64.
“I was one-over par the first day and then 18-under for the next three days, so pretty pleased as there was some really good stuff,” he said.
“I shot eight-under on Saturday that could have easily been 10-under and it was the same on Friday shooting six-under at Kingsbarns, so I am pretty happy and it’s another few Race to Dubai points.”
Indeed, Lowry arrived at the Home of Golf having seen his Race to Dubai lead cut by 29 points following Jon Rahm’s second place BMW PGA finish, but with the Spaniard missing the Dunhill Links halfway cut, Lowry is now 97 points ahead of rival Rahm.
Padraig Harrington’s oldest son, Paddy was having a friendly carpet putting contest with Filippa, the eldest daughter of Thomas Bjorn, within the on-site Tournament Office where he was volunteering for the week as his father let slip a best Tour finish of the year.
Harrington birdied the last in a disappointing closing round 70 for a 13-under par total and share of 26th place.
The European Ryder Cup captain and his wife, Caroline are jetting out mid-morning Monday from Edinburgh bound for Chicago, from where they will be driven the just over two-hour drive north to Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
Harrington will join USA team rival Steve Stricker in the official ‘One Year to Go’ ceremony taking place on Tuesday along the shores of Lake Michigan.
“I’m looking forward to heading back to Whistling Straits and it all sounds exciting what is planned for the few days we are there,” said Harrington.
“I was over there at the end of April to look at the course and the team hotel and locker-room arrangements so the great thing is that I won’t have to worry about that side of things.”
Full scoring HERE
2019 Race to Dubai standings (Irish)
1st – Shane Lowry
27th – Rory McIlroy
106th – Paul Dunne
153rd – Padraig Harrington
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