Like Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, the only path for Shane Lowry is forward

You’ve heard the saying uttered by a wide variety of athletes, but particularly golfers: “Winning is hard.” When it comes to golf, there are a finite number of tournaments in a season, bad bounces materialize over the course of 72 holes and all of that comes before you factor in the competitors, who create even more variables for the equation.

Not said often enough is that winning is even harder when losing becomes a trend. Make no mistake: Shane Lowry lost the 2026 Cognizant Classic at PGA National over the final three holes Sunday.

The Irishman stood on the 16th tee bogey-free for the weekend holding a three-stroke advantage over Nico Echavarria with as many holes to play. His tee shot on the second hole of the Bear Trap was the only one to find the water across the competition’s final 36 holes. The miscue was compounded moments later when his tee shot on the 17th met the same watery grave. 

In the span of 30 minutes, Lowry took one hand off the trophy and put both over his mouth as he stood in utter disbelief at what transpired. He was reminded that countless things have to go right to win, yet only one or — in his case, two — have to go wrong to lose.

Shane Lowry as 54-hole leader on PGA Tour

Lowry’s record as a 54-hole leader on the PGA Tour fell to 1-5. He has not achieved an individual victory on the circuit since his only successful conversion at the 2019 Open Championship. His last individual title in the United States came at the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Neither the tournament nor the World Golf Championships exist anymore.

The Cognizant Classic was his; nothing stood in his way as he sought to break the drought. He had full control of the tournament, full control of his game, and he looked as if he could do no wrong. There was no doubt until that was all that was left.

“I’m obviously extremely disappointed. I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away. What more can I say?” Lowry explained. “That’s twice this year, now, so far. I’m getting good at it. … I played unbelievable all day and then [got completely thrown] for the last few holes. … This is going to be hard to take.”

Whenever something like this happens in sports, the athlete is inevitably labeled a “choker.” The irony in that connotation is that one cannot be called one if they do not put themselves in a position to, well, choke, by thriving until that point. In golf, it is probably utilized a bit too much.

It was a moniker given to Rory McIlroy as he continued trying and failing to break his decade-long major championship drought. Critics were harsh in reviewing his final-round performances at the 2022 Open, 2023 U.S. Open and 2024 U.S. Open. Those are not talked about much these days because McIlroy broke his drought and claimed the career grand slam at the 2025 Masters. 

The same has held for others in the game. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler wasn’t always the world No. 1 we see today. He went without a win in his first 70 starts and struggled to close early in his career; his first five 54-hole leads produced just one victory — a rather big one, mind you, the first of his two green jackets.

There may be no one who knows what Lowry is going through better than his good friend, Tommy Fleetwood. Less than a year ago, the Englishman was known as a choker. He couldn’t close. He couldn’t win. Fleetwood booted away the Travelers Championship and the St. Jude Championship late in the summer.

“I’m obviously going to be disappointed,” Fleetwood said in Memphis. “I said last time, there’s a lot of positives to take, as much as I won’t feel like that right now. I’m just going to look at what I feel like I could have done and how close it was. You know, we move on. There’s another week that’s next, and I’ve just got to reflect on today and obviously keep pushing forward and try and put myself in that position again.”

Two weeks later, Fleetwood raised the FedEx Cup trophy. Discussions of his shortcomings quickly became passé.

The same will happen for Lowry … eventually. For a player of his class — a major champion, Ryder Cup hero, winner of the DP World Tour’s crown jewel — it is unlikely he continues in this manner. He’s too stubborn, too talented.

Lowry will keep knocking on the door. It may seem at this juncture like it will never be answered, but he will persist, and you should not be surprised when it swings wide open.