Shane Lowry In The Bag: The Portugal Masters Winning Clubs

Shane Lowry claimed his second European Tour title, and his first as pro, after a dramatic final round in the Portugal Masters.

The Irishman started the day four behind Austrian Bernd Wiesberger but dragged himself into contention with a final-round 66 that include an eagle at the par-4 11th after he holed oput from the fairway.

The 25-year-old’s last victory came at the Irish Open in 2009 when he was still an amatuer, meaning he was ineligable to pick-up the  €500,000 cheque. That time around, he had to defeat Englishman Robert Rock in a play-off, and he almost faxced the same scenario at the Victoria Golf Club in Vilamoura yesterday with Ross Fisher.

But Fisher took three putts to get down in on the 18th from the greenside and consequently handed the €375,000 first prize to Lowry outright.

Lowry became only the second player to win on the European Tour as both an amateur and a professional, joining Spaniard Pablo Martin, who won the 2007 Portuguese Open in his amateur days and then the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa two years later.

In a tense final round, Lowry went one ahead after birdies at the 15th and 17th, but prepared himself for a play-off after driving into the sand and bogeying the last for a 14-under-par total.

Former Ryder Cup star Fisher, who was in the group behind, left his long birdie attempt from the fringe – a putt to win the title – five feet short and he then lipped out when putting to tie the lead.

“I cannot believe this,” said Lowry. “I can’t explain how I feel really. It’s a dream come true – I’m over the moon. Everyone was referring to me as the fella who won the Irish Open as an amateur, but now I’ve won such a prestigious event I don’t know what to say.”

Lowry was still three behind at the turn, but birdied the 10th and then saw his approach to the next land a foot short of the flag and hop in. He went ahead for the first time when Wiesberger drove into the lake and dropped a shot on the 11th, but Fisher then produced three birdies in a row to take over at the top.

Fisher, looking for his first win since the 2010 Irish Open at Killarney, bogeyed the short 16th to fall behind; while Wiesberger found more water on the long 17th and bogeyed the last to allow New Zealander Michael Campbell to take third place on his own.

The 2005 US Open champion has suffered an horrendous slump and outside the world’s top 1,300 at one point and only two seasons ago made just one cut in 19 starts. This was his best finish for four years and the last time he had four rounds in the 60s was nine years ago.

Lowry’s victory came in his 99th European Tour start and puts him through the €2 million mark for career earnings and gains him European Tour exemption until the end of 2014.

The Irishman will move up to just outside the top-70 of the world rankings and within touching distance of a top-50 ranking, that would guarantee him a spot at April’s Masters.

Here are the clubs the Irishman used to claim victory in Portugal:

Driver: TaylorMade Superfast TP
Fairway Woods: Cleveland Launcher FL and Srixon ZTX2
Hybrid: Srixon Z-UTI 2 hybrid
Irons: Cleveland 588 CB (3-PW)
Wedges: Cleveland 588 (51 and 58)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Select Golo
Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV