Irish Open 2026 Leaderboard And Live Report: Shane Lowry On Cusp Of Victory At Doonbeg

LOWRY AT 18TH

Donald Trump watches on as Lowry prepares to play the 72nd hole. Surely this is about the most relaxed he's ever with a lead heading to the final hole. He's 10 clear!

No problem off the tee either, as he finds the fairway.

ONE HOLE TO GO

It'll be a par for Lowry at the 17th, with his putt drifting left to a few inches away from the hole. No worries, he has a 10-shot lead going down the last. A position, dare I say it, that not even I could blow...

Olesen, meanwhile, can't make another birdie and has to settle for par once more.

FAIRWAYS AND GREENS

Skov Olesen and Lowry both leave 132 yards off the tee and both hit the green to leave birdie chances. Olesen is in McKibbin range, so maybe eight feet upstream of the hole while Lowry sends it hole high out to the left.

NEIMANN MOVES UP

The top-3 is Major like with Lowry leading Reed and now Niemann, who does indeed birdie the 17th. 12-under for the Chilean.

NIEMANN IN CLOSE

Hunting at least a share of second, Niemann stiffs it at the 17th and has a short putt for birdie left. McKibbin just missed from a similar range, although it was the other side of the hole so perhaps this will be slightly easier.

TALE OF TWO SHORT PUTTS

Oh no, Olesen has endured another wobble. Kind of out of nowhere, the Dane three putts at the 16th to suffer a bogey immediately after his first and only birdie.

No such problems for Lowry, however, who taps home to stay 10 clear.

SO CLOSE

Shane Lowry is playing maybe the best golf of his life right now. He looks totally relaxed and is allowing his full talent to emerge. Lowry puts the ball on his back foot and dabs one in low, allowing it to skip over a contour before drifting round towards the hole. It looks as though the ball will drop, but it hops over the hole and stays out. Brutal.

THREE TO PLAY

The 16th is a 215-yard par 3 with a noticeable breeze in play. Lowry doesn't quite hit his best one, but it's safe out to the right with an up-and-down required to retain that 10-shot lead.

BOUNCE BACK

Olesen also makes birdie from maybe seven feet to hop back up to 11-under and a tie for third.

LOWRY CAN DO NO WRONG

Oh my goodness! Lowry sinks a 45-foot birdie putt that moved this way and that before tumbling into the hole. The Irishman puts both arms up and celebrates passionately in front the adoring crowd as he moves TEN strokes clear with three holes to play. Incredible!

BOUNCE BACK

Meanwhile, Olesen takes advantage of being in position A1 to leave his approach six feet away and hole high.

RESCUE ACT

After clearing the way, Lowry feathers a 9-iron to the left edge of this multi-level green. From where he was, with a decent lie, that's more than a respectable result.

FORE LEFT

While Olesen finds the centre of the par-4 15th, Lowry pulls his drive towards the fans lining the left side. "That should be alright, shouldn't it?" Lowry asks his caddie. It looks that way, but only time will tell.

REED MISTAKE-FREE

Reed stays six-under for the day and solo second as it stands. The American has just one more hole to navigate before being able to enjoy the warmth of the clubhouse.

ANOTHER ONE

Birdie no.6 falls Lowry's way thanks to a confident stroke at the 14th. He's up to 21-under now and nine shots clear. What an incredible story for the home favorite.

ABSOLUTE CLINIC

Shane Lowry hasn't always handled closing out tournaments as well as he could have, especially this season, but this one looks in the bag to me.

From 136 yards at the par-3 14th, Lowry clips a wedge to six feet or so below the hole. I fancy 21-under might be on the leaderboard quite soon.

Skov Olesen follows Lowry into close range, just grabbing enough of the back edge. Maybe a couple of birdies here?

SHANE EIGHT IN FRONT

Lowry just about tidies up from five feet with his ball just grabbing enough of the left edge. He does that jerky movement with his knees that us golfers do when a ball is close to the edge. Why do we do that? Answers on a postcard please...

OFF THE POST

A tale of two chips at the 14th. Olesen tries a low skidder which crashes into the bottom of the flag and luckily only ricochets a few yards away. Moments later, Lowry flicks his ball out of a front pot bunker and up to five feet. Great touch.

TOUGH DAY FOR OLESEN

Jacob Skov Olesen is not having a good time out there today. He began in second and comfortably so, but he's gone backwards in pretty benign conditions as the rest of the chasers have shown no mercy in passing him.

Trying to turn it around the corner from left to right at the 13th, he pushes it slightly - leading to a dropped club and a tame kick of said bat on the floor. He wants to be in the clubhouse so badly. He's two-over through 12 and in a share of fourth at the moment.

FIGHT FOR SECOND

With Reed in a spot of trouble at the par-3 16th (he's gone long and left), Niemann boosts his hopes of a solo-second finish by rolling home his mid-range par putt at the par-4 13th.

PLODDING ALONG

Lowry finds the fairway at the 13th, which is a good job because the par-4 hole is close to 500 yards long. Up ahead, Niemann is scrambling to make par.

WELCOME

Hello and welcome to Golf Monthly's coverage of the 2026 Amgen Irish Open final round. Shane Lowry is quite frankly cruising his way to the title at Doonbeg for what would be his first individual success since the 2022 BMW PGA Championship.

Having begun with a four-stroke lead, Lowry has steadily increased his lead to the point where - with six holes to play - the Irishman is up by eight. It's not quite Yurav Premlall levels of domination, but Lowry is doing just fine and can probably relax a little coming home.

Thanks for tuning in where we'll bring you all of the key updates as they happen.