Shane Lowry may have been a little frustrated to let a chance of victory slip through his fingers at the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship, but every cloud has a silver lining and in Lowry’s case, it comes in the shape of the World Rankings.
A seventh-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational a fortnight ago saw him climb to 14th in the rankings – the highest he’d ever been including after winning the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in 2019 – but he slipped a place despite finishing 20th at The Players Championship last week.
Despite having no luck on the greens at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort at the weekend, yet another top-10 finish – T8 alongside Seamus Power – was enough to lift Lowry up to 12th in the rankings, which is a testament to the form he’s shown.
Power’s first top-10 of the season lifted him 15 places to 100th, while Tom McKibbin’s return to DP World Tour action was impressive as he had a putt to tie the lead on the final hole and eventually had to settle for a share of third place. The performance sees the Holywood man jump 10 places to 107th, and putting him back within touching distance of the top 100 which would likley carry with it an invitation to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow if he maintained it until a fortnight before.
Hugh Foley continues to rise in the rankings in his maiden season as a professional. From starting the year outside the top 4,000, he’s one good week away from moving inside the top 2,000 at 2,158 after another good performance on the Alps Tour.
In the women’s Rolex Rankings, Anna Foster is the biggest Irish mover after a T14 finish – her first professional top-20 – at the NSW Women’s Open in Australia. She climbs over 200 places to a career-high of 800.
Lauren Walsh is also up to a career-high of 173, climbing one place in the rankings despite a frustrating week on the LET.
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