Shane Lowry just blew his best chance at a win in years.
Going into the 18th hole at the Dubai Invitational, Shane Lowry had a one-shot lead. He then hit his tee shot onto the middle of the fairway and looked dead set on securing his first win since 2022.
However, the tricky 18th hole, which had wrecked so many scorecards over the course of the week, bit Lowry as well. He found the bunker on his approach, then bladed his bunker shot across the green and into the water. Lowry made a double bogey and threw away the win.
These kinds of results can take a while to get over, especially for someone who has been winless for so long. The 2019 Open Championship winner left the golf course devastated, and recently shared what he did privately after his meltdown on the 18th.
What Shane Lowry did privately after throwing away a win on the final hole
When Lowry holed the Ryder Cup retaining putt this summer, he proved that he had the clutch gene. But a result like this is bound to knock the confidence of even the most level-headed players on tour.
But he’s approaching the aftermath with a healthy mentality and tried his best to move on as quickly as possible. Speaking ahead of the Dubai Desert Classic, he told reporters, “I’m okay now.
“I’ll be honest, I went and packed up my stuff at the hotel, and I got in my car, and I came over to the hotel for this tournament. I felt like sitting in my room for the evening on Sunday evening, but I went and met some friends for dinner.
“Kind of tried to have as good a time as I could, but you kind of go to bed that night and you wake up thinking, ‘What if? What could I have done differently?’ Even yesterday was a bit of a slow day for me. I came out here and hit some balls and played nine holes.
“Yeah, just trying to get it out of my system, really. But I feel good today. I think speaking to people closest to me over the last day or so, like you can only take positives from it, really. I played great last week, haven’t played in a while.
“First tournament of the year. It’s nice to get the year off to a great start, and hopefully it’s a sign of things to come for the rest of the year.”
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever seen a player make at a major?
Lowry continued, “Don’t get me wrong. If I did that at the Masters, it would take me a lot more than a day to get over it. But you know, it’s clear that it’s been a while since I’ve won a tournament. So to get a win at any tournament on either of the tours I play would be really nice.
“Like last week hurt. Did it hurt as much as a really big event, a major, or something? No, absolutely not. I still want to win. I still tee it up every week wanting to win. And that’s what’s hard about this game, isn’t it?
“There’s plenty of players that played last week that are over on the range now trying to find their game, but they didn’t feel as bad as I did leaving Dubai Creek Sunday evening. So that’s the funny thing about golf.
“I’ve probably played close to 400 tournaments in my career, and I’ve only won seven. You lose a lot more than you win. So you get used to losing (laughs) as a professional golfer.
“Yes, there’s certain weeks where you finish fifth, and you’re happy, or third, and you’re happy, but more often than not, you leave a tournament on the Sunday evening and you’re not happy with yourself. You get used to it, and you learn to deal with it and move on and look at the future.”
The key area Shane Lowry needs to improve to win in 2026
All in all, there were plenty of positives to take from the event. Lowry looked to be enjoying his golf and hopes that he can learn from this and get back to winning ways in 2026.
But he said that he learned a key lesson from the event, and it’s now clear to him that there’s an area to his game that needs work if he’s to take a victory this season. And despite his poor bunker shot on the final hole, chipping isn’t the problem.
Lowry explained, “I think you can’t be stupid and say, Oh, let’s just forget about last week and move on. I think you have to kind of look at what you learned from it.
“Like I’ve been on tour a long time now, and I feel like you’re always learning week-to-week, day-to-day, and like last week is no different. The great thing about golf is that even if I won last week, you’re still here as another player this week, and you’re still here teeing it up on Thursday and you’re wanting to play well.
Do you think Shane Lowry will win during the 2026 season?
Was the first event of 2026 a success or a failure for Shane Lowry?
“No matter what went behind you, it doesn’t change anything going forward. So yeah, I think just a lot of open and honest conversations with my coaches, my team, and myself, and my caddie. What we did wrong, what can we do better?
“You know, there certainly is a few things. It wasn’t just the last hole last week. There was a few instances during the week. Like I probably had a few too many 3-putts last week. I had a few, you know, times where I probably dropped silly shots.
“So it wasn’t just the last hole last week that let me down. It was a few things along the way. But I felt like I played some great golf, and I think you need to look at that and look at the positives and bring them forward.”
Lowry almost won the Dubai Invitational with his incredible iron play alone. He gained 2.83 strokes on the field with his approach shots over the week. The rest of his game prevented him from running away with the event, however, so there’s plenty to work on before the major season begins.
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