{"id":173049,"date":"2025-06-10T13:32:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T13:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173049\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T13:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T13:32:11","slug":"no-idea-how-to-play-here-shane-lowry-quit-oakmont-after-just-a-few-holes-in-crushing-us-open-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173049\/","title":{"rendered":"‘No idea how to play here’ – Shane Lowry quit Oakmont after just a few holes in crushing US Open moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prior to the 2016 U.S. Open, Shane Lowry admittedly knew little about the course at Oakmont.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the Irishman<\/a> quickly learned what he would be up against on the fairways.<\/p>\n

\"Lowry<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Lowry thought his US Open campaign was over before it began in 2016Credit: Getty<\/p>\n

Safe to say, he did not like it.<\/p>\n

Lowry stepped foot onto the iconic course in Pennsylvania for a practice round a few days ahead of the third major.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the 38-year-old did not get to properly learn the ins and outs of Oakmont because, well, it was simply too difficult.<\/p>\n

“My coach was with me, and we teed off on 10,” Lowry said at the Memorial Tournament.<\/p>\n

“We got around to 14, which is up beside the clubhouse, and I walked in.<\/p>\n

“And I sat there in the locker room going, ‘I have no idea how I’m going to play golf around this place.'”<\/p>\n

It took Lowry a mere five holes to believe his U.S. Open <\/a>was over before it even began.<\/p>\n

How wrong he was.<\/p>\n

After three rounds at Oakmont, Lowry sat atop the leaderboard thanks to impressive rounds of 68, 70 and 65.<\/p>\n

It meant Lowry boasted a four-stroke lead going into the final day of action.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

The Irishman has never forgotten how his first visit to Oakmont wentCredit: Ten Golf – YouTube<\/p>\n

Shane Lowry’s U.S. Open results<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2011: Cut<\/p>\n

2014: Cut<\/p>\n

2015: Tied for 9th<\/p>\n

2016: Tied for 2nd<\/p>\n

2017: Tied for 46th<\/p>\n

2018: Cut<\/p>\n

2019: Tied for 28th<\/p>\n

2020: Tied for 43rd<\/p>\n

2021: Tied for 65th<\/p>\n

2022: Cut<\/p>\n

2023: Tied for 20th<\/p>\n

2024: Tied for 19th<\/p>\n

However, there was one unexpected element he had to partly thank for his impressive performance that was nowhere to be seen during his practice round: the rain.<\/p>\n

The opening day of the 2016 U.S. Open was derailed due to heavy rainfall, but it soon played into Lowry’s hands as the course softened up.<\/p>\n

It meant Oakmont was open for favourable scores form the field and Lowry certainly took advantage of it.<\/p>\n

But the course firmed up for the final round and it spelt danger for Lowry.<\/p>\n

Add in the fact Lowry had never led a major before and the Irishman had a lethal mix destined for doom.<\/p>\n

Lowry mustered a solitary birdie and a grim seven bogeys to score 76 in his final round.<\/p>\n

\"Lowry<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Lowry watched his lead slip away in agonising fashion during the final roundCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Lowry, his score was good enough to tie for second as he finished three strokes behind winner Dustin Johnson.<\/p>\n

A ‘bitterly disappointed’ Lowry was left to lament what could and perhaps should have been after the final round.<\/p>\n

“You know, it’s not easy to get yourself in a position I got myself in today,” Lowry said.<\/p>\n

“It was there for the taking and I didn’t take it.<\/p>\n

“The more I think about it, the more upset I’m getting.<\/p>\n

“It’s one of those that’s going to be hard to take. It’s going to be a tough few days.<\/p>\n

Furious Shane Lowry takes huge chunk out of fairway and flips off ball after arguing with PGA official<\/p>\n

“But I led by four shots in the tournament going into the final round. I had a lead with five holes to play.”<\/p>\n

The T2 placement for Lowry at Oakmont in 2016 remains his best performance at a U.S. Open.<\/p>\n

In fact, he has not finished above T19 in the following years.<\/p>\n

However, the 2025 U.S. Open marks the tournament’s return to Oakmont and Lowry will hope to recapture the magic from 2016.<\/p>\n

Perhaps he may even fare a little better during a practice round too.<\/p>\n

The Open getaway<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Enjoy a 3-night weekend getaway with grounds admission tickets for both Saturday and Sunday of The Open 2025.<\/p>\n

Stay in comfort at the Hilton Templepatrick, with transfers included and exclusive access to the Your Golf Travel Clubhouse.<\/p>\n

All this from just \u00a31,270 per person \u2013 don\u2019t miss your chance to be part of golf\u2019s biggest event in ultimate style.<\/p>\n

Plan your dream golf trip HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prior to the 2016 U.S. Open, Shane Lowry admittedly knew little about the course at Oakmont. But the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[71805,71806,2826,4366,2998,71807,4298,7929,79,71804,16,15,8642],"class_list":{"0":"post-173049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-2016-u-s-open","9":"tag-2025-u-s-open","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-golf-news","12":"tag-latest","13":"tag-oakmont-country-club","14":"tag-pga-tour","15":"tag-shane-lowry","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-u-s-open","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-updates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114659324466875737","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}