Irish eyes smiling for Lowry with World Golf Championship victory at Firestone

Lowry only needed to par his way home but scored a birdie on the last with another stunning recovery.

Lowry was down the left again at the last – but from more thick rough, he played over more lofty trees to the heart of the green and holed for a memorable closing birdie.

Jim Furyk and Justin Rose, who shared the 54-hole lead, couldn’t keep up.

Bubba Watson watches his birdie putt on the second hole during the…

It’s only his second victory as a pro overall and comes just five days before the final Major championship of the year, the US PGA.

“I managed to hole a few putts and get a bit of luck”.

Double Masters champion Bubba Watson then recorded his fourth birdie in six holes on the 13th to close within a shot, with Furyk on eight under and Rose another stroke adrift after chipping in for a birdie on the ninth but then carding his third bogey of the day on the next.

A drive of 379 yards down the 18th gave Watson the chance of another birdie, but this time his approach finished 25 feet from the hole and the left-hander had to settle for par. The American golfer finished his round on 9 under, leaving Lowry two holes to play to try maintain his one shot lead. Lowry, playing two groups behind him, pulled his approach on the 17th and faced a tough chip from behind the green and he could only get within 6 feet.

“My up and down on 17 was probably my best one of the week”, Lowry said on CBS, as he described his round.

“What I had been told a couple years ago was that he had a handsome short game, kind of a scrappy player”, Furyk said Saturday. I thought he hit the ball pretty well.

The Offaly man will pocket a staggering €1.4m if he can secure his first Tour win. He had been a special temporary member. That’s what I should have done.

Jordan Spieth had set the early clubhouse target on four under after a final round of 66, but that was never going to be enough for the victory which would have seen him replace Rory McIlroy as world number one.