#4 Colossal Collapse at the "Cog"
Dear Pards,
Shane Lowry looked like he was on cruise control Sunday at the Cognizant. Until he wasn’t. That tee shot on 16 looked a lot like a shot I’d hit trying to close out a back-nine press for $5 against my buddies. How on earth do you blow a lead like that?
—Shocked in St. Louis
Dear Shocked,
I too felt as if Shane had the “Cog” on ice Sunday afternoon. So much so that I told my wife we could switch it to her show when she asked if “golf was almost over” after Lowry made birdie on the 13th to take a three-shot lead.
Love Is Blind then replaced Dan Hicks as the narrator of my nap for the next half hour. When I awoke, a quick glance down at my phone put the Chris & Jess saga on pause, and I was back to the Bear Trap on NBC.
I’ve got nothing against Shane Lowry. To be honest though, there was a tad bit of Tony Soprano in me whispering to the wind with three holes to play. Go talk to him. Lean on him a little.
I wasn’t rooting for the kill shot. Just rough him up a touch and make this thing close.
Well. The swipey 3-iron off the tee on 16 was the talking-to. The tee shot on the next… that was Paulie taking things a tad bit too far.
Sorry, Shane.
The fascinating thing is how quickly the best in the world can lose control of the club face and look so hopeless down the closing stretch of a tournament.
In his interview afterwards, Lowry mentioned he wasn’t thinking about much other than watching his four-year-old run across the 18th green. While selfless, having that thought with so much golf to play cost him the golf tournament. And it made him the subject of more stories this week than the guy who actually won. In a weird way, I think it makes me like Lowry more.
Hats off to Nico Echavarria for a bogey-free weekend. It’s a shame we heard more about his new house than a flawless 36 holes on his way to PGA Tour win number 3.
I hope there’s a little something left of that $1.7 million after his lady makes her way to West Elm this weekend.
P╞r╠℮