‘Disappointed’ Shane Lowry Admits Throwing Away Cognizant Classic Title Following Late Collapse

Shane Lowry suffered a major collapse in the final stages of the 2026 Cognizant Classic as two back-to-back double bogeys cost him the tournament.

‘Disappointed’ Shane Lowry Admits Throwing Away Cognizant Classic Title Following Late Collapse

Shane Lowry (Image via Yahoo Sports)

A golf tournament is not over until the final putt drops. Shane Lowry received a painful reminder of this as he suffered a late collapse at the Cognizant Classic. In the press conference after the round, the golfer admitted of throwing away the tournament.

The Cognizant Classic at the PGA National is famous for its “Bear Trap“, a three-hole stretch designed by Jack Nicklaus. The holes 15, 16 and 17 have caused trouble for several golfers in the past.

Lowry himself had some issues at this stretch before. Two years ago, the Irishman slipped up on the par-3 15th hole and made a double bogey. He was in contention back then too.

However, this slip up cost him. His emotions would get the better of him that time as he threw away his golf club in anger.

This time, Lowry seemed to be sailing smoothly towards the title. After the 15th hole on Sunday, the 38-year-old found himself being 3 shots clear on top of the leaderboard with 3 holes to play.

After this, things went downhill for him. His tee shot on the par-4 16th hole would land in the pond. He would end up making a double bogey on this hole, opening the door for Nico Echavarria.

On the 17th hole, his shot found the waters again. He would make another double bogey on this hole and saw his lead slip by. This marked the first time in his PGA Tour career that he had made back-to-back double bogeys.

The 2019 Open Championship winner would wrap up the event with a par on the final hole. Echavarria, who was 3 shots behind him on the 15th hole, went on to finish 2 strokes ahead of him and claimed his 3rd PGA Tour title.

The golfer was visibly disappointed and upset with his showing. While speaking with the reporters, he admitted that he threw away the tournament.

I’m obviously extremely disappointed. I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away. What more can I say? That’s twice this year now so far. I’m getting good at it.

Shane Lowry told the reporters

Earlier this year, Lowry was in contention at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Invitational as well. A double-bogey on the final hole in that tournament saw him finish T3 in that event as well.

The golfer seemed more upset about losing in front of his 4-year-old daughter, Ivy. He revealed that his youngest daughter was waiting for him to come out as the winner.

The hardest thing about today is I’ve never won in front of my 4-year-old, and she was there waiting for me. Yeah, I only wanted it for her today… I thought I had it. I thought I was going to win.

Shane Lowry added

This is also Lowry’s second runner-up finish at the PGA National. In 2022, he came second as he finished behind winner, Sepp Straka.

Shane Lowry’s PGA Tour record takes another hit following late collapse on Sunday

For large parts on Sunday, it seemed Shane Lowry would walk up with the Cognizant Classic title. Unfortunately for him, he imploded late on at the PGA National Course as he fell into the Bear Trap. With this loss, his PGA Tour record took another major hit.

Shane Lowry
Shane Lowry (Image via Imago)

Prior to this tournament, Lowry had a poor 1-4 record when leading a PGA Tour event after 54 holes. It looked like he would improve this record to 2-4 this week while being 3 strokes ahead after the 15th hole. With this major slip-up, he is now 1-5 on the PGA Tour while being the 54-hole leader.

Lowry has not won a tournament on the PGA Tour since his iconic Open Championship triumph in 2019. He did win the Zurich Classic in 2024. However, that was a team event and won it while playing alongside Rory McIlroy.

His last solo victory came at the 2022 BMW PGA Championship, where he finished 1 shot ahead of McIlroy and Jon Rahm. It has been around three-and-a-half years since he last won a solo tournament.

He now has to pick himself up from this defeat and turn his attention to the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. This will be the third signature event of the year.

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