Shane Lowry victorious at Firestone

• Shane Lowry wins the biggest tournament of his career to date
• Overturned a two-shot deficit to win by two at Firestone
• Has moved up to world No.19 – a career-high ranking

Shane Lowry scooped the biggest win of his career and earned his PGA Tour status after coming from behind to lift the WGC-Bridgestone title at Firestone.

The 28-year-old, who had only previously won twice on the European Tour, started the day two shots behind co-leaders Justin Rose and Jim Furyk, but carded a bogey-free final round of 66 – bettered only by Camilo Villegas on Sunday – to finish two clear of Bubba Watson on 11-under-par.

Watson, who started the day two shots further back from the Irishman, matched his score of 66 and got to within one shot on the back nine, but Lowry held firm under pressure with a birdie on the 18th enough to seal a landmark victory with final pairing Rose and Furyk finishing on seven-under-par.

“I played as good a golf as I’ve ever played the last four days” – Shane Lowry

“I can’t believe it,” said an overjoyed Shane Lowry. “I’ve been playing good most of the year and things just haven’t been going my way. I’ve missed a couple of cuts by a shot and I was getting very down on myself.

“I played as good a golf as I’ve ever played the last four days, managed to hole a few putts and get a bit of luck, which was nice. I know everyone back home, the place I grew up there’s a party going on. Everyone’s going to be at home, my fiancée Wendy, my parents and my granny as well. It’s great to have such support from my family.”

CONTINUES BELOW…

Lowry, who sneaked into the tournament as world No.48, has now moved inside the top 20 for the first time in his career and after earning his PGA Tour card, plans to play for more in the States.

“I thought as long as I did something half decent this week I’d have enough for my card,” explained Shane Lowry. “That’s what I was aware of anyway so I wasn’t really thinking about my PGA Tour card at all.

“I’m definitely going to try and play both tours and I want to play over here more as I’ve said over the last year. That was my goal, and I’m thankful to all those people who gave me invites at the start of the year.

“I’ve achieved a lot of goals so far this year. PGA Tour card, another win, well inside the top 50 in the world so I’m looking forward to the next few months.”

Shane Lowry :: Ryder Cup certainty?

After his win at Akron, do you think Shane Lowry is now good for a place in the 2016 Ryder Cup team at Hazeltine? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.