Lowry breezes to incredible Irish Open victory in Doonbeg

Shane Lowry cruised to victory by 11 shots at the Amgen Irish Open in Doonbeg on Sunday as he lifted the title for the second time in sensational fashion.

The Offaly man, who famously won the tournament as an amateur back in 2009, took a four-shot lead into the final round this year and soon extinguished any fears he might let that advantage slip.

FINAL LEADERBOARD

With US President Donald Trump watching on, Lowry drained a birdie putt on his first hole, then added three more on the fifth, seventh and eighth.

He did give one back with a bogey on the ninth, but the chasing pack had melted away by then; Lowry was in complete control.

The 39-year-old birdied the par-five 10th to move eight shots clear of Patrick Reed, his nearest challenger, and it became crystal clear this was a procession. He moved 10 ahead with back-to-back birdies on Nos 14 and 15, the second of which coming after a monster 44-foot putt.

Lowry had the luxury of soaking up the applause long before he reached the 18th hole.

When he birdied the last with yet another perfect putt to finish on 23 under par, the packed stands erupted as they toasted a home winner for the second year in a row after Rory McIlroy triumphed at the K Club.

Earlier, McIlroy (above) enjoyed his best round of the tournament, carding a 67 that left him one under par overall.

It was a good end to a frustrating few days for McIlroy, who talked up the positives ahead of next week's BMW Championship.

"Obviously it wasn't the week that I wanted, but at the same time I don’t feel too far away, and I feel good about going into Wentworth next week," he said.

"I thought I hit the ball pretty well for the most part. A couple of bad decisions off the tees yesterday, but overall, iron play was a lot better. That’s getting there.

"Wedge play was pretty good for the most part this week. Obviously it was a struggle on the greens. That was the difficult thing and why I wasn’t able to get myself into contention."

Tom McKibbin will have been very satisfied with his weekend. He finished in a tie for fifth on 10 under, signing off with a 67.

Liam Nolan wrapped up a strong showing on his Irish Open debut with a 69 that left him on three under.