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Lowry dominates for 6-shot Open Championship victory

GLYN KIRK / AFP / Getty

Shane Lowry is the Champion Golfer of the Year after closing out a dominant six-shot victory in The Open at Royal Portrush on Sunday.

The Irishman shot a 1-over 72 in the final round to finish the week at 15-under par, clinching his first career major title.

"It's just surreal," the 32-year-old said while holding the coveted Claret Jug. "I can't believe I'm going to have one of these on my mantlepiece at home. It's just incredible."

Lowry thrived while his fellow competitors crumbled during poor weather conditions that became increasingly worse as the fourth round progressed. His 72 was over three shots better than the scoring average of the final six groups.

With the decisive win, Lowry becomes only the seventh player over the last 100 years to win the Open Championship by six-plus shots.

Here's how the top of the leaderboard ended up:

Place Player To Par R4 Score
1 Shane Lowry -15 72
2 Tommy Fleetwood -9 74
3 Tony Finau -7 71
T4 Lee Westwood -6 73
T4 Brooks Koepka -6 74
T6 Robert MacIntyre -5 68
T6 Tyrrell Hatton -5 69
T6 Danny Willett -5 73
T6 Rickie Fowler -5 74
10 Patrick Reed -4 71

Tommy Fleetwood entered the day as Lowry's biggest threat, but he was unable to mount a charge, shooting a 3-over 74 to finish alone in second.

Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka, and Lee Westwood round out the top five.

With his performance at Royal Portrush, Koepka joins Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Jordan Spieth as the only four players to finish inside the top four of all major championships in the same calendar year.

Additionally, Westwood qualified for the 2020 Masters by finishing tied for fourth. The Englishman hasn't punched his ticket to Augusta since 2017, and he's recorded five top 10 finishes at the tournament.

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