Lowry arrives to Augusta after tied-11th finish in Houston

Bernie McGuire
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Shane Lowry plays his shot from the tenth tee during the final round of the Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course on November 08, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Bernie McGuire

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Shane Lowry arrived in Augusta late last night (US time – Sunday) pleased overall after finishing just outside the top-10 at the Vivint Houston Open.

Lowry had muscled his way to a share of second place early on with four straight birdies from the second hole before signing for a two-under par 68 for a six-under par tally and a share of 11th place on the Memorial Park layout.

The Clara golfer spoiled his day with back-to-back bogeys at 10 and 11 and while Lowry found the green with his drive at the par-4 14th and two-putted for birdie, his Houston campaign ended in water guarding the green at the par-5 16th. Lowry did birdie 17 before a closing par.

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Padraig Harrington is returning home with two pay cheques in his wallet having finished T26th in the Bermuda Championship before birdieing two of his closing three holes for a T32nd in Houston while Graeme McDowell was joining Lowry on the flight to Augusta in shooting a last day 70 for a one-over tally to be just outside the top-40.

Carlos Ortiz, 29, brilliantly captured a maiden Tour title and a start in next April’s Masters in becoming only the third Mexican-born to win on the PGA Tour when he sensationally birdied the last in a 65 and won by two shots at 13-under. In the process, Ortiz denied World No. 1 and Masters hot-favourite Dustin Johnson (65) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (63) who shared second at 11-under.

“It feels awesome to win my first PGA Tour title and it’s been a while since I won (Three wins in 2014 on the Web.Com Tour), so it feels good,” he said. “I am just so happy winning here in Houston as Texas is now where I live and there were a bunch of local people here cheering for me along with many Latinos, Mexicans and also plenty of Texans cheering for me so it’s been awesome.”

Sharing fifth place was four-time major winner Brooks Koepka who headed to the Masters after a pair of 65s over the weekend for an eight-under total: “I feel good going to Augusta as the whole goal here in Houston was to find some confidence, so I played well,” he said. “I haven’t scored all year and I thought my scoring has been off, so I have finally put some low scores together and I’m ready for next week.”

Full scoring HERE

 

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