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Lowry was tied for the lead at 9-under par when he reached the
18th tee box. Up ahead, Sepp Straka had just blasted a 334-yard
drive on the par-5 finishing hole.
With rain turning into a heavy downpour, Straka put his second
shot on the green. While the Austrian was walking up to survey
his eagle putt, Lowry pulled his tee shot only 241 yards into
the left rough.
Straka narrowly missed his eagle putt, but tapped in for birdie
to reach 10 under. Lowry, forced to lay up, hit his third shot
to 43 feet and was unable to make the birdie putt, settling for
solo second.
"It's hard to take, to be honest," Lowry said. "Feel like I've
got the tournament stolen from me today. I played the golf
perfectly to win the tournament, and that's this game sometimes
and that's this level.
"That was as bad a break as I've ever got. Especially when
you're standing on the tee and you see him over that left
bunker, which I would've been able to do if there was no rain."
The Irishman was seeking his first victory since the 2019 Open
Championship. He did climb 15 spots to No. 35 in the Official
World Golf Ranking with Sunday's runner-up finish and now has
five consecutive top-25 finishes worldwide.
After an even-par 70 in his opening round, Lowry posted three
consecutive 67s at the demanding Champion course at PGA
National.
"Look, it is what it is. It's a great week for me," he said.
"I'm very happy where my game is at. It's a really nice week to
take into The Players now.
"Like the next 24 hours will be tough, but my kids are here and
my family. I'll get on with my life tomorrow and I'll be fine."
--Field Level Media
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