Emotional Lowry hails 'unbelievable' Irish Open success

An emotional Shane Lowry said "this feels as big as it gets" as he routed the field at the Amgen Irish Open and ended his four-year wait for a victory.

The Offaly man famously won the event 17 years ago as an amateur and also claimed the Open Championship on Irish soil in Portrush.

But he wrote a new chapter today with a stunning 11-shot success in front of US President Donald Trump.

He told RTÉ Sport: "Something like this feels as big as it gets for me. The nerves in my stomach this morning.

"I couldn't be happier. I don't seem to do it very often but when I do it seems to be pretty cool. So that was unbelievable today.

"The sleep that I had last night felt very like Portrush in 2019 and it was just one of those where I knew if I went out and didn't get the job done today that it would be very hard over the next few days."

Lowry revealed he set a target to get to 20-under-par with a fear someone could emerge from the pack.

But four birdies in eight holes killed any chance of a rival to the title.

Having previously stumbled from favourable positions going into the final round of events, notably this season at the Cognizant Classic and Dubai Invitational, he admitted the challenge was mostly mental on the Clare course.

"You're through five or six holes, you've got a good lead and every time your lead gets more, sometimes the doubts can creep into your head about how big of a disaster it would be if you didn't win.

"I went out and I went after it today and I felt like I did a great job.

"I had a tough morning to be honest because this year has been hard.

"Off the course life is great, but on the course I've had a few kind of mishaps. It's been well documented and I probably have a lot of doubters out there.

"And you doubt yourself at times but I went out this morning and I went out to win this tournament. That's what I did. I'm so happy."

Lowry was present for Katie Taylor's finale last week as over 80,000 Irish fans saluted one of the country's finest sportspeople.

He said the moment stayed in his mind, with some envy.

"Obviously Portrush was incredible, Bethpage last year was incredible and I keep feeling like I can't better it but this is [incredible].

"I sat in Croke Park last Saturday night watching Katie Taylor with almost a little bit of jealousy what she was achieving and getting to do it in front of her home fans and I got to do it this week."

Family was also firmly in the thoughts of the now two-time Irish Open winner, having delivered on a request to bring a trophy back to the US.

"My mum is standing just there, it's been unreal. My wife and my kids are back in Florida.

"When things are not going well at this level, it's hard at home as well, but my wife's been a huge support and my kids. I love them so much, I'm so happy to win this for them.

"I can't wait to bring a trophy home. My daughter always asked me 'when are you going to bring a trophy home?'

"So yes, I'm going to bring one home."