2009 - Week 24 Winners

Irish amateur Shane Lowry (ranked 201st by Golf Predictor) claimed an historic maiden European PGA title at his very first attempt. The rank outsider showed admirable composure in the difficult conditions over the four days to win the Irish Open in front of an ecstatic home crowd. Having missed a few great chances, Lowry eventually claimed the title at the third extra hole in his titanic tussle with Robert Rock (ranked 37th). However, the English man eventually had to settle for his second consecutive runner-up finish. Lowry joins an illustrious group of Irish Open winners and will have a two year European Tour exemption when he turns pro. Our top pick Padraig Harrington missed the cut, having been one of those with a bad draw. We had five of the top twenty plus ties (5/24)* in an event where the weather played havoc.

There was also a play-off on the US PGA Tour, where our top pick Zach Johnson successfully defended the Valera Texas Open title he won just seven months ago. Despite not playing tremendously well, Johnson saw off the charging James Driscoll (ranked 117th) with a birdie on the first extra hole. In total, we had four of the top nine plus ties (4/10).


*Graeme McDowell withdrew and Francesco Molinari got disqualified, so we ignore those two in the performance analysis.