You’ve probably heard the saying, “It’s hard to win” by various athletes, especially golfers. When it comes to golf, there are only a limited number of tournaments in a season, and bad bounces are a reality on 72-hole courses. All of this happens before considering the contestants, which creates even more variables into the equation.
It’s not often said, but when losing becomes a trend, it becomes even harder to win. Make no mistake: Shane Lowry was eliminated from the 2026 Cognizant Classic The final three holes at PGA National on Sunday.
The Irishman stood on the 16th tee with a three-stroke lead over Nico Echavarria with holes remaining and a bogey-free weekend. His tee shot on the second hole at Bear Trap was the only shot that hit the water in the final 36 holes of the tournament. The mistake was then made worse when his tee shot on No. 17 hit the same watery grave.
Over the course of 30 minutes, Lowry removed one hand from the trophy and stood there with both hands over his mouth, in complete disbelief at what had just happened. He was reminded that while a million things have to go right to win, only one, or in his case two, has to go wrong to lose.
Shane Lowry becomes PGA Tour 54-hole leader
2026 Cognizant Classic | tied up | T2 |
2025 Tourist Championship | tied up | T2 |
2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational | tied up | 3rd place |
2024 Cognizant Classic | tied up | T4 |
Opened in 2019 | 4 stroke | win |
2016 US Open | 4 stroke | T2 |
Lowry now has a record of 1 win and 5 losses as the 54 hole leader on the PGA Tour. He has not won an individual victory on the circuit since his only successful conversion at the 2019 British Open Championship. His last individual title in the United States came at the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. The tournament and the World Golf Championship no longer exist.
Cognizant Classic was his thing. Nothing could stop him from trying to break the drought. It looked as if he was in complete control of the tournament, in complete control of his game, and could do nothing wrong. I had no doubts until it remained.
“Obviously I’m very disappointed. We had the tournament in our hands and we threw it away. What more can I say?” Lowry explained. “It’s happened twice this year so far. I’m getting better. … I played unbelievable all day and then the last few holes (completely thrown). … That’s going to be hard to take.”
When something like this happens in sports, the player is inevitably labeled as a “choker.” The irony in this sense is that a person cannot be called that person unless they put themselves in situations where, by thriving to that point, they are, well, suffocated. In golf, that might be a bit overused.
This was the nickname given to Rory McIlroy as he continued to try to break his 10-year major championship drought. Critics were harsh on his final-round performances at the 2022 Open, 2023 U.S. Open and 2024 U.S. Open. These things aren’t talked about as much these days as McIlroy broke the drought and completed a career Grand Slam at the 2025 Masters.
The same applies to other players in the game. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler wasn’t always the world No. 1 we see today. He was winless in his first 70 starts and had a slow start to his career. His first five 54-hole leads resulted in just one win — mind you, the first of his two green jackets was a pretty big win.
No one may know what Lowry is going through better than his good friend Tommy Fleetwood. Less than a year ago, the Brit was known as the choker. He couldn’t close. he couldn’t win. Fleetwood defeated the Travelers Championship and St. Jude Championship in late summer.
“Obviously we’re going to be disappointed,” Fleetwood said in Memphis. “Like I said last time, I don’t feel like it right now, but there’s a lot to be positive about. I’m going to look at what I could have done and how close I was. You know, we move on. We’ve got another week to go, but we’ve got to look back on today and obviously keep moving forward and try to put ourselves in that position again.”
Two weeks later, Fleetwood hoisted the FedEx Cup trophy. Discussion of his shortcomings quickly became obsolete.
The same thing will happen to Rory…eventually. For a player in his class, a major champion, Ryder Cup hero, and DP World Tour crown jewel winner, it’s hard to imagine him continuing this way. He’s too stubborn and too talented.
Lowry keeps knocking on the door. It may seem like it’ll never be answered at this point, but he’ll persist, and don’t be surprised if it opens wide.
