'I'd A Great Chance Of Winning This Open' - Shane Lowry Admits Troon Near Miss Will 'Hurt'

A sixth-placed finish at The Open left Shane Lowry feeling like a second Claret Jug has slipped through his fingers as he felt he "played unbelievable golf all week" at Royal Troon.

The 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year at Royal Portrush had the 152nd Open in his grasp when he led by three shots on Saturday before conditions got the better of him.

Lowry's third-round 77 saw him start Sunday four shots off the lead, and despite a rousing 68 on Sunday, that could've been a few shots better, he could not bridge the gap on Xander Schauffele.

Although proud of how he managed to respond to Saturday's huge body blow, Lowry lamented: "It wasn't good enough and it's very disappointing."

"There's no two ways about it," he added. "I'd a great chance of winning this Open and it's going to hurt for a few days."

Lowry is still keen to view the entire week as a positive overall, with the Olympics to look forward to in Paris, but his desire to win a second Major is clear.

"How could you not look back on it positively, a chance to win The Open?" Lowry continued. "Obviously the critics and whatnot will say that I probably should have won from where I was yesterday afternoon, but it's not easy out there. It's not easy to win tournaments like this.

"I did everything I could. Unfortunately, I came up short. Hopefully over the next five to ten years I give myself another few chances in tournaments like this and get one more.

"Like I said at the start of the week, all I want is one more."

Lowry on Portrush return

Lowry will be a star attraction next year at Portrush as he returns to the scene of his incredible victory - but for a long time he was the best player on the course at Troon and thought he'd be going back to Northern Ireland as the reigning Open champion.

"Honestly all week, the way I was playing, I thought I'm going to be going back to Portrush with the Claret Jug as well," said Lowry. "That could be pretty cool. I was very confident with how I was playing this week.

"I'm sure going back to Portrush will have its challenges next year for me with some demands and people are going to be talking about me a little bit more than they were in 2019. But, yeah, I'll go back, and I'll enjoy it.

"Who knows between now and then what's going to happen. We have a lot of good golf to play. Hopefully I'll be going back, you never know, as an Olympic medalist or a major champion or something. That would be pretty cool."