Andrew Landry birdies final two holes to win The American Express

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – As the story goes, Shane Lowry and his close friend Padraig Harrington were sitting together on the same flight to California a couple of years ago when the plane encountered turbulence. After a nearby passenger started to become nervous, Harrington tried to calm her down. “Turbulence has never ever taken a plane down,â€� Harrington reassured her. To which Lowry quipped: “There’s a first time for everything.â€� Related: Leaderboard | Englishmen in contention at Royal Portrush | Spieth, Koepka bringing their best to another major The Irishmen shared a laugh as they told the story during a joint interview with the Independent newspaper a day later. It was good they could smile – especially for Lowry, given that the previous summer he had frittered away a chance to win his first major by shooting a final-round 76 at the U.S. Open in Oakmont. Lowry had entered the final round with a four-shot lead but bogeyed four of his first 10 holes, eventually giving way to Dustin Johnson. It was a harsh lesson – but perhaps a necessary one that will pay dividends this week at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Lowry will enter Saturday’s third round in the final twosome with American J.B. Holmes, the two sharing the 36-hole lead at 8 under. It’s Irish Whiskey vs. Kentucky Bourbon, although a large pack of contenders – including, of course, Brooks Koepka – are eager to chase. Every golfer at this level has varying amounts of scar tissue, tournaments that once seemed in their grasp only to slip away. Holmes once led the 2008 PGA Championship after 36 holes but ended up shooting a final-round 81 in a tournament won, coincidentally, by Harrington. But Lowry has the fresher scar tissue, and perhaps the most pressure, given that he’s an Irishman leading the first Open to be played in Northern Ireland in 68 years. If he can pull this off … well, no Irish writer – and there have been plenty of great ones – could produce this kind of story. “Look, I’m obviously going to be thinking about it tonight,â€� Lowry said. “There’s no point in shying away from it.â€� Yes, but will he be thinking about Oakmont? Harrington thinks it could help. Very few players win these things without going through that a couple of times,â€� said the three-time major winner, who definitely has suffered his share of near-misses. “I would definitely think he’s a better player because of Oakmont rather than scarred. “He’s won big tournaments. It’s not all gone one way or the other. He’s had some tough ones on the golf course and he’s had some good ones. That’s the most important thing. … Oakmont has definitely got to be a help to him, not a hindrance.â€� Holmes hasn’t really felt the weekend pressure at a major in the last decade. His two top-10 finishes came in the same 2016 season, and they were both of the backdoor variety – a tie for fourth at the Masters when he started the final round tied for 13th, and a third at the Open Championship when he entered Sunday eight shots off Henrik Stenson’s lead. But he has suffered through a poor stretch since winning the Genesis Open in February. After his second-round 68 on Friday, he acknowledged it was more than just a slump. “Four weeks ago, I thought my career was over. Or felt like it,â€� Holmes said. He’s obviously pulled himself together at Portrush. No one on the first page of the leaderboard has more career scar tissue than 46-year-old Englishman Lee Westwood, still seeking his first victory in his 82nd career major start. He has three seconds among his 18 top-10s; if he wins on Sunday, he’d be the oldest major winner since Julius Boros won the 1968 PGA at age 48. Westwood’s not thinking about that right now. “There’s too much ground to cover before Sunday night,â€� he said. “… If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. And if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Just go home and have dinner, go on holiday the next week. Do the same things. Life won’t change.â€� Lowry said life won’t change for him, either, if he wins. He just wants to go out and do his best. A year ago, he was in bad spot. He missed the Open cut for the fourth straight year. He split with his long-time caddie. He was depressed about his game. “I wasn’t in a great place mentally,â€� he said. Now, he’s 36 holes away from being a national hero. An entire island will be rooting for him this weekend. Maybe he turns that near-miss at Oakmont into a positive. Portrush native Graeme McDowell, making the cut on the number, will try to chase down Lowry. He expects it to be difficult. “Shane Lowry is probably one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met in the life,â€� McDowell said. Added Harrington: “He’s got a great attitude and a winning mentality … I think Shane does believe he can do it.â€� Sure, Lowry’s never won a major. But there’s a first time for everything.

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If we were to publish a guide to compile the levels of comfort for every host course on the PGA TOUR, Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, would be a finalist for its cover. There are many ways to define comfort, but all apply at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational. Whether it’s individual success, total appearances or the time it often requires to find form on the 81-year-old track, comfort exists everywhere you look. Monday’s Power Rankings detailed how age and familiarity have played co-protagonists since Sergio Garcia captured his first PGA TOUR victory here in 2001. Inherently correspondent to that theme, the average number of starts at Colonial before each of the 12 different champions in the last 14 years – Kenny Perry and Zach Johnson have won the tournament twice since 2002 – is 6.25. However, there’s been a gradual reduction in the average since ZJ’s first win here in 2010 as none of the last five unique champions made more than five starts prior to hoisting the hardware. Still, Colonial’s reputation as a comfortable place to unpack one’s bags is alive and well. Thirty-three of the 121 in the field (as of Monday) have made at least seven starts in the tournament. Eighteen have made as many as 10. For this is the leading factor in projecting success at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational. The course itself renders opportunity for all, evident in just how differently even just the last three champions navigated their paths to paydirt. TALES OF THE TAPE As maddening as it might be to discern any direction from the last three winners, not to mention how weather influences things, rest assured that there are reliable factors to locate value. While proper positioning off the tee never hurts anywhere, if you reviewed how contenders have rated in both distance and accuracy over the years at Colonial, you’d quickly learn that Chris Kirk’s uninspiring splits off the tee tilt toward a majority. In other words, Colonial is much more of a scorer’s paradise than it is the kind of test that’s going to reveal the broadest skill set. The set of identifiers below focuses on frequency and accuracy on approach as well as getting after it on the greens. And because there’s a correlation between recent winners and last year’s noisemakers, odd as it is, par-3 scoring is injected as a potential game-changer. Golfers in this week’s field inside the top 10 in the following categories in last year’s DEAN & DELUCA Invitational: * – Currently inside the top 50 on the PGA TOUR in the stat. (Golfers who haven’t logged enough rounds are not tagged.) Greens in Regulation Rank Golfer (Tournament Finish) 1 Kyle Reifers (5th) 2 Ricky Barnes (T42) T3 Jason Dufner (T6) T3 Harris English (2nd) T3 Ryan Palmer (T3) T3 Brandt Snedeker (T17) T9 Martin Piller (T6) Proximity to the Hole Rank Golfer (Tournament Finish) 1 Kyle Reifers (5th) 2 Ryan Palmer (T3) 3 *Jason Dufner (T6) 4 Brandt Snedeker (T17) 5 *Webb Simpson (T3) 7 *David Hearn (T17) 8 Harris English (2nd) 10 Anirban Lahiri (T6) Strokes Gained: Putting Rank Golfer (Tournament Finish) 1 Chris Stroud (T13) 2 Jordan Spieth (Win) 3 *Harris English (2nd) 4 Anirban Lahiri (T6) 5 Matt Kuchar (T6) 6 Kevin Kisner (T10) 8 *Seung-Yul Noh (T42) 9 Chad Campbell (T10) Putting: Birdie-or-Better Percentage Rank Golfer (Tournament Finish) 1 *Anirban Lahiri (T6) 2 Harris English (2nd) 3 Jason Bohn (T34) 4 Webb Simpson (T3) 5 *Jordan Spieth (Win) 7 Chad Campbell (T10) T8 Ryan Palmer (T3) T8 Martin Piller (T6) Par-3 Scoring Rank Golfer (Tournament Finish) T2 Tim Herron (T29) T2 Kevin Kisner (T10) T2 Matt Kuchar (T6) T2 *Johnson Wagner (T34) T6 Jason Dufner (T6) T6 Charley Hoffman (T42) T6 Zach Johnson (T17) T6 *Seung-Yul Noh (T42) T6 *Jordan Spieth (Win) T6 *Chris Stroud (T13) T6 Nick Taylor (T47) Relative to this space every week are how the three classifications below are populated. Each is at the mercy of sliding scales based on depth of field, individual records and other factors that include recency of success and current positioning on one career bell curve. Take these into account if you’re ever curious as to why a golfer slots in a grouping you wouldn’t expect. In addition, the only prerequisite for inclusion below is that any golfer must have recorded at least one top 10 on the host course of a given tournament. This explains why contemporary hopefuls like Marc Leishman (6-for-6 with no better than a T13 in 2016), David Hearn (5-for-6 with three top 25s but no better than a T13 in 2012) and Graham DeLaet (4-for-5 with no better than a T14 in 2014) are omitted. NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply endorsement in any fantasy game. HORSES FOR COURSES Selected golfers with multiple cuts made sorted by rank on the tournament’s money list. GETTING COMFY Sorted by best finish, selected golfers who are either finally finding form on the course or are still relatively new to the tournament but have enjoyed some success. OTHER SIGNS OF COMFORT Sorted by most recent top 10s, selected golfers for whom it’s been a few years since their last.

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The final round of the 3M Open takes place today at TPC Twin Cities. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action and see who wins the title in Minnesota. Round 4 leaderboard Round 4 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS Bill Haas, Peter Uihlein Sunday: 8:45 a.m. ET Bo Van Pelt, Rafa Cabrera Bello Sunday: 8:55 a.m. ET Matthew Wolff, Xinjun Zhang Sunday: 12:35 p.m. ET Charles Howell III, Emiliano Grillo Sunday: 12:55 p.m. ET MUST READS Thompson gains momentum heading into the final round at 3M Open Thompson, Werenski tied for lead after 54 holes at the 3M Open Koepka misses cut at 3M Open, prepares for upcoming title defense After long layoff, Van Pelt finally likes where his game is going Finau parts ways with caddie Best par save ever? After two in water, Bae holes out from 250 yards Dustin Johnson withdraws from 3M Open citing back injury Insider: Fleetwood returns to work Four burning questions about DJ PGA TOUR University’s inaugural top 15 ranking CALL OF THE DAY

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