Shane Lowry devastated after poor final round at US Open
By Keith Jackson
Last Updated: 20/06/16 7:50pm
Shane Lowry admitted he was "bitterly disappointed" at being unable to hang on to a commanding 54-hole lead in the final round of the US Open.
Sunday started positively for Lowry as he birdied 15 and 17 before completing a third-round 65 which doubled his overnight two-shot lead, but his composure deserted him over the final 18 holes as he slumped to a 76 which left him three shots behind champion Dustin Johnson.
Three bogeys on the front nine added up to an outward 38, and he dropped another shot at the 10th before hauling himself back into contention with a birdie at the long 12th, where he almost holed his pitch for eagle.
But three consecutive three-putts at 14, 15 and 16 effectively ended his challenge, and he cut a deflated figure as he holed out at the last to close on one under with Johnson already confirmed as champion.
"I'm bitterly disappointed standing here," said the Irishman. "It's not easy to get yourself in a position I got myself in today. It was there for the taking and I didn't take it, but you can only learn from your mistakes - I always say it's only a mistake if you don't learn from it.
"I'm sure I learned a lot from today and I don't know what it is yet, but when I'm in that position again, and I know I will be, I'll handle it probably a little bit better."
When asked what went wrong having played so well over the first three days, he added: "I just kept on hitting okay shots. It wasn't even great shots, it wasn't even bad shots - I kept hitting it to 25, 30, 35 feet, and on these greens, it's tricky. I kept leaving myself a lot of work to do, and it caught up with me on 14.
Final leaderboard
"I started a really bad streak there, obviously on 15 and 16 as well. To do that, at that time in this tournament, the more I think about it, the more upset I get. So that's the way golf is. I just hope to get on with that."
Lowry also insisted he was unaffected by the situation involving Johnson after he was made aware mid-round that the American could have incurred a penalty stroke for an infringement on the fifth green - a ruling which was not confirmed until after the tournament.
He said: "We were told walking on 12, but no, it didn't affect the way I played. If anything, I credit Dustin for playing the way he played on the way in, having that hanging over him, because I probably would have wanted to know straightaway if it was me.
"I was aware of what was going on, and I was just hanging in there. I holed a great putt for par on 13 which was massive, and I had a great number on 14 but just hit a really poor shot and it kind of spiralled out of control from there. It was one of those where I'd give anything to have that wide shot on 14 back again.
"Everything happened quickly, but that's what happens when you play a few bad holes. They're kind of over before you know it and you'd like to have them back again. I was probably a bit hard on myself coming in as well, I think if I had have just relaxed a little bit more, I could have done something a bit better."
