Brandel Chamblee picks the PGA Tour player who’s only just behind Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler with his irons but he’s ‘known for’ one weakness

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Brandel Chamblee provided an honest assessment of one PGA Tour player in his coverage of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Chamblee first explained that one of the contenders at the Arnold Palmer is almost as good as Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler with his irons.

That is obviously an immense compliment considering those two are up there with the greatest iron players in the history of the sport.

But Chamblee also shared the weakness in said player’s game that often prevents him from winning tournaments on the PGA Tour.

• READ MORE: What Wyndham Clark did on the 15th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational which he’s never done on a golf course before

Brandel Chamblee compares Shane Lowry’s iron play to Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler

Shane Lowry’s five-under-par 67 on Friday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational improved his overall score to eight under after an opening round 69.

This put him in pole position on the leaderboard going into the weekend – an excellent chance to add to his three PGA Tour victories.

Reflecting on Lowry’s stunning second round at Bay Hill, Chamblee compared Lowry’s iron play to Woods’ and Scheffler’s.

“The first two days and really throughout his career, he’s known as a very accurate ball striker,” he said on Golf Channel.

“He’s not Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods or Scottie Scheffler with his irons but he’s just outside that, he’s close.

“For him to go on a run and really start winning a lot of golf tournaments, if his iron play got to top five…”

And Chamblee was right to praise Lowry’s irons, which have been consistently good since he joined the Tour 10 years ago. The only issue for the Irishman is his ability to get over the winning line.

Brandel Chamblee and Mark Rolfing point out Shane Lowry’s biggest weakness

After Chamblee spoke about Lowry’s iron play, he added that the 37-year-old does have one issue which often holds him back in the biggest moments.

“If you ask what Shane Lowry is known for, it’s his boisterous personality, winning the Open Championship in Ireland… but he’s also known for the collapse in 2016 at the US Open when he had the 54-hole lead and shot 76 on Sunday.

“I would say that wasn’t an aberration. You can’t say that he’s not capable of closing the deal, but his record hasn’t been great.”

In 2024 alone, Lowry led three tournaments after either 36 or 54 holes, and his next round was underwhelming on each occasion.

Golf expert Mark Rolfing added: “I can’t pinpoint it. There are no weaknesses in his game except not being able to close it out when he gets there.

“He’s been within three shots of the lead going into the final round 13 times on the PGA Tour since 2016 and he’s only won one time – at Royal Portrush.

“He made an interesting comment to Steve Burkowski about having the blinders on and not paying much attention to what else is going on.

“I think that has to change the closer you get to the end of a tournament. I think you have to have some more awareness. Maybe that’s the issue for Shane.”

Unfortunately for Lowry, the theme continued this weekend as he effectively slipped out of contention at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a third-round 76 (+4).