Shane Lowry didn’t just win a golf tournament on that rainy Sunday in County Antrim. He basically became a living folk hero. If you were watching the Royal Portrush Open 2019, you felt that weird, electric energy that only happens when a home-grown talent is on the verge of something historic. It wasn't just about the Claret Jug. It was about the return of The Open Championship to Northern Ireland for the first time since 1951. Sixty-eight years of waiting. Imagine that. The pressure on the local guys like Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell was almost suffocating from the moment they stepped onto the first tee.
Golf is usually quiet. This wasn't. It was loud, wet, and incredibly chaotic in the best possible way.
The Dunluce Links and the return of the North
People kept talking about how "the course would be the star," which is such a cliché, right? But with the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush, it actually held true. Harry Colt’s original design is a masterpiece, but the R&A knew they had to tweak things for the modern era. They brought in Martin Ebert to basically overhaul the finish. They scrapped the old 17th and 18th holes—which were honestly a bit weak compared to the rest of the land—and carved out two new holes (the 7th and 8th) from the neighboring Valley Course.
It worked.
The "Big Nellie" bunker was reconstructed on the 7th. It’s this massive, intimidating crater of sand that looks like it belongs on the moon rather than a golf course. You’ve got these massive dunes, the Atlantic wind whipping off the coast, and a crowd that was record-breaking. 237,750 people showed up. That was a record for an Open held outside of St Andrews. It proved that Northern Ireland wasn't just ready for big-time golf; it was starving for it.
Rory’s Friday heartbreak
We have to talk about Rory. Honestly, it was a disaster.
The script was written for Rory McIlroy to win at home. He grew up on these tracks. He shot a course-record 61 at Portrush when he was just 16 years old. But then came Thursday morning. His first shot of the Royal Portrush Open 2019 was a pulled iron that went out of bounds. He made a quadruple-bogey 8 on the first hole. Just like that, the air was sucked out of the entire country.
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He fought back, though. His Friday round was one of the most gutsy things I've ever seen in sports. He shot a 65, missing the cut by a single agonizing stroke. Seeing him walk off the 18th green with tears in his eyes... it was heavy. It shifted the entire narrative of the tournament. Suddenly, the local hope was gone, and the spotlight swung violently toward a bearded man from Offaly named Shane Lowry.
How Shane Lowry broke the field
Lowry is the kind of guy you want to have a pint with. He’s relatable. But his golf that week was anything but ordinary. While everyone else was struggling with the "Calamity Corner"—that’s the par-3 16th that drops off into a chasm of doom—Lowry was playing a different game.
His Saturday round was the stuff of legends. A 63.
The atmosphere during that third round was unlike anything I've experienced in golf. It was more like a football match. When he tucked in his birdie on the 17th, the roar was so loud you could probably hear it across the water in Scotland. He went into Sunday with a four-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood. Now, four shots sounds like a lot, but in the wind and rain of Portrush, it can disappear in two holes.
The Sunday grind in the rain
Sunday was miserable. The weather turned exactly how you’d expect Northern Irish weather to turn in July—horizontal rain and wind that makes you question your life choices.
Lowry started shaky. He bogeyed the first. Tommy Fleetwood, who is one of the best ball-strikers in the world, was right there. But the turning point wasn't a birdie. It was how Lowry handled the bad shots. He kept his cool. While Brooks Koepka—who was at the height of his "major specialist" powers—couldn't get a putt to drop, and Fleetwood struggled to find the fairway, Lowry just kept grinding.
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He finished at 15-under par. He won by six. Six! In a major championship! That just doesn't happen anymore.
The technical brilliance of the 2019 setup
What most people get wrong about the Royal Portrush Open 2019 is thinking it was just a "bomb and gouge" course. It wasn't. The R&A set it up to reward precision. Look at the stats:
- Scrambling was king: Lowry’s short game is arguably the best in the world, and he used it to save par from positions that would have killed anyone else's round.
- The 16th Hole (Calamity): It played as one of the hardest par 3s in Open history. If you missed right, you were dead.
- Fairway Importance: Because the rough was so lush from a wet Irish summer, missing the short grass meant you couldn't control the spin. That’s why guys like Dustin Johnson struggled to make a move.
The setup forced players to think. You couldn't just overpower it. You had to navigate it. J.B. Holmes, who was in the final groups, famously took ages to play his shots because he was so perplexed by the conditions. It was a tactical battle as much as a physical one.
Why this tournament changed the R&A's perspective
Before 2019, there was a lot of skepticism. Could the infrastructure of a small town like Portrush handle the massive crowds? Would the security be an issue? The success of the Royal Portrush Open 2019 was so overwhelming that the R&A immediately started talking about bringing it back.
It’s already on the schedule for 2025.
They realized that the passion of the Irish fans is a commercial and emotional goldmine. It brought a different "vibe" to the Open rota. It wasn't the stuffy, quiet atmosphere of some of the English courses. It was a celebration. It also highlighted the "Golf Island" brand, boosting tourism across the Causeway Coast.
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Key takeaways from the 2019 leaderboard
- Shane Lowry (-15): The clear outlier. Total dominance.
- Tommy Fleetwood (-9): Proved he belongs in the elite tier, even if he couldn't close the gap.
- Tony Finau (-7): Showed that his game travels anywhere.
- Brooks Koepka (-6): A reminder that even on an "off" week, he’s a threat in majors.
What you can learn from Portrush for your own game
Watching the pros handle Portrush offers a lot of "real world" advice for the rest of us. First, stop trying to hit the hero shot in the wind. Lowry won because he accepted bogeys when they were inevitable and didn't let them turn into doubles.
Second, the short game is your safety net. If you want to play links golf, you have to learn the "bump and run." Using a 7-iron or a hybrid from 30 yards off the green is almost always better than trying to loft a 60-degree wedge into a gale-force wind.
Finally, look at the equipment. Many players swapped out their high-launch woods for "driving irons" or "utility irons" that week to keep the ball flight low. If you play in windy conditions, lowering your center of gravity and your ball flight is the only way to survive.
Actionable steps for your next links trip
If you're planning to head to the North of Ireland to play Portrush yourself, there are a few things you absolutely have to do.
- Book the Valley Course too: Everyone wants to play the Dunluce (the championship course), but the Valley is world-class and often overlooked.
- Practice your 40-yard putts: On links land, you’ll often be putting from way off the green. Get the pace right.
- Check the 2025 schedule: If you’re planning a trip, be aware that the Open is returning soon, so tee times will be scarce and prices will spike.
- Study the 16th: When you stand on the tee at Calamity, aim left. Always left. The "chasm" on the right has ruined more scorecards than any other feature on the course.
The Royal Portrush Open 2019 wasn't just a tournament; it was a cultural moment that validated Northern Ireland’s place at the top of the sporting world. It was a week where the weather was bad, the golf was sublime, and the winner was exactly who the world wanted it to be.