One among more than 140,000. That’s how special Shane Lowry‘s (-13) golf round was this Saturday at Valhalla, during the third day of the PGA Championship. Like finding a needle in a haystack. The Irish golfer, champion of the Open Championship, had a birdie putt on hole 18 to sign 61 strokes, the lowest round in history in the Majors. No one ever did less than 62 in the Masters, US Open, Open or PGA. Lowry had it in his hands.
Really, the only thing missing was a gram, a gram more of force to that putt of just over three meters he had on hole 18. The line was good, but it needed more energy to reach the hole and not die on the left. A pity. Justin Rose, his faithful companion in the Ryder Cup, was celebrating with his finger up Lowry’s third shot. The opportunity was very good, but for now the record will remain 62. In any case, not everything was the putt’s fault. If he had caught the fairway, he would have had a better chance of catching the green of two and making an (almost) easy birdie.
Lowry joins the exclusive club of four players who have achieved that record at some point in the Majors. Branden Grace did it in the Open Championship, Xander Schauffele in the US Open and in the PGA, Rickie Fowler in the US Open and now Lowry in the PGA. For now, the only virgin of 62 strokes is Augusta National. There the counter has stopped, for now, at 63. It is true, however, that Grace, Fowler and the first Schauffele in the US Open were on par 70 courses (Royal Birkdale and Los Angeles Country Club), while Schauffele and Lowry this week have been on par 71. Augusta remains for 72.
These are the four rounds of 62 strokes in the history of the Majors:
– Xander Schauffele, 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla GC, Round 1 (-9)
– Xander Schauffele, 2023 U.S. Open at L.A.C.C., Round 1, (-8)
– Rickie Fowler, 2023 U.S. Open at L.A.C.C, Round 1, (-8)
– Branden Grace, 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, Round 3, (-8)
Although he could not claim the record alone, Lowry has taken an extraordinary bite out of the PGA Championship standings. He has crafted an excellent victory option for this Sunday. When he handed in his card he was only one stroke behind the lead held by Schauffele. And he has given himself this opportunity with a prodigious performance on the greens. He has put in everything he had to put in and a little more. Portentous. He has put in five putts over five meters, one of ten and another of twenty on hole 7. It was a spectacle. None of his birdies were given. One of the best performances with the putter in recent history is remembered.
“I enjoyed every minute, obviously. There will never have been anyone as disappointed as me for making 62 strokes. I knew what was at stake in that last putt. I just didn’t hit the ball hard enough. I read it well and it got away from me. I wanted to hole, probably too much. Anyway, I went out with a goal, to get back into the tournament, and I achieved it,” summed up the Irishman, who confessed that once, not in an official tournament, he had a birdie putt to make 59 and it also got away from him.
Regarding his performance with the putt, he explained that since he arrived at Valhalla he fell in love with its greens. He found something he liked a lot. Also, in the last two weeks he has been moving away from technique and has opted to play more games on the greens with the sole aim of holing.
