2019 Open Championship
Updated: Wikipedia source
The 2019 Open Championship was the 148th Open Championship, played 18–21 July at Royal Portrush Golf Club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was the second Open Championship at Portrush, which last hosted in 1951, won by Max Faulkner. Royal Portrush saw major alterations in preparation for the tournament, including replacing two of the holes. Shane Lowry won his first major title by six strokes over Tommy Fleetwood. Ranked 33rd coming into the tournament, Lowry's previous biggest wins were the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the 2019 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Lowry became the second player from the Republic of Ireland to win a major after Pádraig Harrington. Lowry shot 67 in both the first and second rounds to share the lead with J. B. Holmes after 36 holes. He shot a course record (since the 2016 renovation) 63 in the third round to have a four-stroke lead over Tommy Fleetwood going into the final day. After shooting a 72 in challenging conditions on the last day, Lowry was able to convert a four-shot 54-hole lead into major victory, after failing to do the same at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Fleetwood finished solo second for the second time in a major, having previously achieved the feat at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Major champions Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, and Rory McIlroy competed in a major in their native Northern Ireland for the first time. Clarke was given the honour of the opening tee shot and described the event as a watershed moment for Northern Ireland, as hosting was seen as unrealistic during the years when violence ravaged the province. McIlroy was the pre-tournament favourite but shot an 8-over-par 79 in the first round, which included a quadruple bogey eight on the first hole, a double bogey five on the 16th, and a triple bogey seven on the 18th. Despite shooting a 6-under-par 65 in the second round for a two-over-par total, he missed the cut by a single stroke. Clarke also missed the cut, and McDowell finished tied-57th. Defending champion Francesco Molinari made the cut on the number and finished tied for 11th with a 3-under-par 281. Brooks Koepka finished tied 4th to become the fifth player, after Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods, to finish top-five in all four majors in a single season. The 36-hole cut was 143 (+1) and better; 73 advanced to the weekend, but no amateurs, so the Silver Medal was not awarded.