Moneyball – Lowry’s dominance was healthily rewarded

Shane Lowry’s final round at Doonbeg was more a case of banishing the ghosts that had been steadily accumulating over the past 12 months than about filling his pockets, but he killed two birds with one stone anyway.

Lowry’s 11-shot victory was one more than Bernhard Langer won by at Portmarnock back in 1987, and the Offaly man collected the winner’s share of the $6 million prizefund and walked away with €878,529.06.

This of course, was Lowry’s second time winning his National Open, but the first time he’s been paid in doing so as his emotional 2009 success came as an amateur and second-placed Robert Rock took the top financial prize but not the trophy.

This was Lowry’s seventh win on the DP World Tour, and he’s earned over €25 million across 304 tournament starts (majors included), and it also lifted him back into the top 50 in the world rankings.

Tom McKibbin’s LIV future may be in doubt, but there’s no doubt that the Holywood man’s form is trending in the right direction. After a T6 finish at the British Masters a fortnight ago, he went one better and finished T5 at Doonbeg and earned just under €200,000 for his weeks work. He also climbed to 72nd on the Race to Dubai, with the top 70 exempt into the Abu Dhabi Championship, the first of two season-ending playoff events.

Liam Nolan proved that he’s more than capable of competing on the DP World Tour with a T31 finish that earned him just over €40k, while Rory McIlroy’s title defence didn’t materialise and he had to settle for a tie for 41st and €29,456.56.

Amgen Irish Open selected payouts