Shane Lowry wins the European Tour’s Portugal Masters
Shane Lowry fired a five-under par 66 in the final round of the Portugal Masters, and took home the second European Tour title of his career, on Sunday, October 14, 2012.
His first victory on the tour came at The 3 Irish Open, which he played during his amateur career.
The victory at the Oceânico Victoria Golf Course marked the Irishman as only the second player in the history of the European Tour to record victories, during both his amateur and professional careers.
Spaniard Pablo Martin was the other player who achieved the same feat by winning the 2007 Portuguese Open as an amateur and the 2010 Alfred Dunhill Championship as a professional player.
Lowry got off to a poor start by bogeying the first hole. However, he bounced back quickly with a birdie on the very next hole.
He then added another shot on the fifth hole to reach the turn with a one-under par score. On the back nine of the course, he made a strong charge on the leaderboard by posting a 32 on his scorecard.
The best shot of his round came on the 11th hole, when his seven-iron chip shot found the cup for a sparkling eagle.
In total, he recorded three birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey on the back nine for a 14-under par tournament score.
Ross Fisher, in the meantime, had the chance to force the game to enter the playoffs with a par putt on the 18th green. However, he three-putted for a bogey and handed over the victory to Lowry.
"I cannot believe this," he said after coming from four behind the Austrian Bernd Wiesberger in the final round."I can't explain how I feel really. It's a dream come true - I'm over the moon”.
He added, "Everyone was referring to me as the fella who won the Irish Open as an amateur, but now I've won such a prestigious event I don't know what to say”.
He also praised the local atmosphere and the conditions at the venue course by saying that he felt as if he was playing on his home soil.
"It was like playing in Ireland," he said. "It was crazy. It was great”.
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