SHANE LOWRY won his first career major in his native Ireland with a victory at the 2019 British Open on Sunday.

Lowry, a longtime European and PGA Tour fixture and the world’s 33rd-ranked golfer coming into this week, seized control of both the Northern Ireland course and the hearts of the gallery to storm to a six-shot victory.

This marked the first time an Open Championship had taken place in Northern Ireland in 68 years, and both the course and the nation put on a hell of a show. The Open sold out for the first time in its history — for the first time ever, there were no walkup tickets available — and the course drew universal acclaim for its design, layout and challenges.

For some big names, though, that challenge was too much to handle. Phil Mickelson rolled into Northern Ireland 6.8 kilograms lighter, and ended up nearly that many strokes over par before missing the cut. Tiger Woods showed up exhausted, looked sore and disinterested from the jump, and never came close to threatening the cut line. The weekend marked the first time in the 83 majors the two have played together that both have missed the cut. (SD-Agencies)