Celebrating Shane Lowry: Hometown club cheers for Open champion

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Patrick Reed’s last Sunday at Liberty National was a little less stressful than what he’ll face this time. Victory was assured two years ago, when Reed was part of a U.S. juggernaut that dominated the International Team in unprecedented fashion at the Presidents Cup. The home team almost ended the tournament a day early. It could celebrate Saturday evening, knowing it needed just a half-point in singles to retain the Cup. Now Reed is on his own atop a tight leaderboard at THE NORTHERN TRUST. He shot 4-under 67 to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs. There are nine players within four strokes of Reed, including past FedExCup champions Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy and Brandt Snedeker. Related: Leaderboard | FedExCup update: Snedeker two back | FedExCup standings Reed, who is 14-under-par, has made just one bogey over 54 holes at a golf course that continues to grow progressively tougher after getting doused with rain before the tournament. On Saturday, Liberty National played over par for the first time all week (71.2). He’ll be joined in the final group by Abraham Ancer, who won last year’s Australian Open but is seeking his first PGA TOUR victory. Snedeker and Jon Rahm are two shots back. Rose trails by three, while McIlroy is four behind. Snedeker shot 63 on Saturday after teeing off 3 ½ hours ahead of the leaders. The winds strengthened and the course dried out as the day progressed. Ancer is 67th in the FedExCup and 10th in the standings for the Presidents Cup’s International Team. He shot 68 on Saturday. “I’m very pleased with the way I played,â€� he said. “Extremely tough conditions out there. The golf course firmed up a ton. It was definitely a different animal than the last two days.â€� Few have hit the ball better than Reed this week. He’s third in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and 18th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. He’s in the top 10 of fairways hit (33 of 42) and greens in regulation (39 of 54) as well. His 67 on Saturday was the low round among the final 10 players to tee off Saturday. His strong ball-striking allowed him to conquer the conditions. “From the fairway, you can attack (this golf course),â€� Reed said. “It’s one of those things that you just have to be smart and play this golf course smart. You have to give yourself opportunities and I feel like I’ve been doing that this week.â€� This is the seventh time Reed has held at least a share of the 54-hole lead. He’s won on four of the previous six occasions. He hasn’t started Sunday with a lead since last year’s Masters. His triumph at Augusta National remains his most recent victory. A win would help Reed extend two impressive streaks. He is 50th in the FedExCup, but a win would guarantee him a sixth consecutive start at the TOUR Championship. He’s also 17th in the Presidents Cup standings. He’s played on every U.S. international team since 2014. Reed’s winless stretch reached rock bottom in the run-up to his title defense. He had a three-round stretch at THE PLAYERS and Valspar Championship where he shot 78-77-75. His struggles were enough for him to take a three-week break after a missed cut at the PGA Championship. There was a 10-day stretch where he didn’t touch a club. “I was able to sit down clearly think and talk through my team what we’re doing, what’s good, what’s not, what we need to fix. From that point, we had a very clear picture and path to move on to,â€� Reed said. “Any time you can ease your mind and you have clear focus, you’re able to go out there and execute and play better golf.â€� He and his team decided that he was getting too technical. He plays his best when he’s trying to shape shots instead of thinking about his golf swing. “The biggest thing for me was hit fairways and just allow my mind to get out of its way, go out and be who I am,â€� Reed said. “That’s grind, and once I get it on the golf course, go play golf. See golf shots and hit golf shots.â€� He’s made every cut since leaving Bethpage Black and has five consecutive top-25s, including a T5 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and 10th-place finish at The Open. Those are his first top-10s since his first start of the season, the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. He was ranked 148th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green after the PGA. He’s now 81st in that statistic. He’s jumped from 125th to 88th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in that span, as well. He also switched golf balls last Sunday – before the final round of the Wyndham Championship – and the move paid immediate dividends. He shot 63 thanks to a softer golf ball that flies higher. “It’s just awesome to finally be in that position back again where I’m contending on Sunday and have a chance to win the golf tournament,â€� Reed said.

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The team event is back on U.S. soil, with familiar faces — on the courses and as assistant captains — as Team USA tries to get the Cup back after losing to Europe two years ago.

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FORT WORTH, Texas – The worst car that veteran caddie Kenny Harms ever owned was a green 1973 Chevy Camaro. He paid $200 for it and soon nicknamed it the Putty Box because that’s the material he kept using to fix the rust. On Sunday, Harms became the owner of another car built in 1973. This one’s considerably more valuable … and certainly more significant, as it comes courtesy of his man Kevin Na, who romped to a four-shot victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Among the perks for winning at Colonial are a plaid jacket, the Texas-sized Leonard trophy, a permanent spot on the Wall of Champions and a hefty check. This year, another perk was added – a 1973 blue Dodge Challenger to commemorate the year the Charles Schwab company was founded. It’s a unique prize, one that Na remembers hearing about months ago. Harms was equally aware of it too, and during a recent promotional piece on the car for the Caddie Network, he had a message for Na: “You wouldn’t really look so great in this but I will. I should I get the car if you win.â€� Then on Tuesday during the practice round, they spotted the Challenger sitting just off the 10th fairway. “Kevin, that’s my car, right?â€� Harms said. “Yeah, if I win, I’ll give it to you,â€� replied Na. “BOOM!â€� Harms said as he retold the story on the 18th green at Colonial, the trophy presentation having just completed. “Pretty smart for a caddie.â€� Said Na: “I don’t know how my caddie convinced me to give him the car, but he’s a good salesman I guess. He sold me into it. But I’m more than happy to give it to him. He deserves it.” “I got something cooler right here.â€� Na then patted the Leonard Trophy, which stands 42 inches tall and weighs 55 pounds, making it one of the biggest trophies on TOUR. It’s one he’s long coveted – and one he long imagined winning, perhaps even expecting to at some point. Colonial is one of the few courses on the PGA TOUR that Na thinks fits his shot-maker’s game. It’s not overly long, it rewards precision, and several of the holes play to his strengths. “I think a lot of my draws work out here,â€� he said. He also called it a second-shot-in golf course, noting that a majority of well-struck tee shots end up in the same spot in the fairway. “It’s about how good you can hit it with the irons and how well you can putt,â€� said Na, whose career-low 61 came here last year, and who shot a 62 on Friday to jump into contention. “I’m a pretty good player fairway in.â€� He was more than good on Sunday, hitting 14 of 18 greens and making several key putts. Starting the day with a two-stroke lead, Na birdied three of his first six holes – including a 33-foot putt at the fourth — then bounced back from his first bogey with another birdie from 20 feet at the par-3 eighth. Na, known for walking in putts, kind of side-walked this one, then pumped his first. A few steps later, he smiled for the first time in his round. No one would catch him on this day. He eventually finished at 13 under, and his 4-under 66 was exceeded by only one player Sunday, Russell Knox’s 65. “A well-deserved win this week,â€� said Tony Finau, his closest pursuer at 9 under. A little less than a year ago, Na won at The Greenbrier. It was his second TOUR win but his first in 158 starts. Na said the drought lasted so long – despite several close calls – that he wondered if he would ever win again. He’s not wondering any more. Although he feels like there are just seven or eight courses he can legitimately contend it – that may explain why he had just one top-10 this season coming into this week — Na is now converting those opportunities. “I feel like this week was the next chance at a win, next time I legitimately could contend – and I won,â€� Na said. “I felt so much more comfortable. Had so much more confidence. I think me winning Greenbrier last year has obviously taken a lot of pressure off.” “There is always pressure, but it’s taken a lot of the load off, weight off my shoulders. I think it helped me today.â€� Harms – who has been on Na’s bag since the end of the 2008 season when he jumped off Hale Irwin’s bag – has noticed the difference. “Ever since his win at Greenbrier, that was the first time I actually saw a calmness to him that all the greats have in golf,â€� Harms said. “I can tell when he’s nervous. I never really saw any nervousness from him today.â€� Until this week, 2019 had not gone all that smoothly. A finger injury forced him to withdraw from the Sentry Tournament of Champions and sidelined him for a month. A neck injury at Valspar also slowed him down. Then there are courses that simply don’t serve him well, like last week at Bethpage Black when he failed to make the cut. But Colonial will always be a special place for him. Just before starting his round Sunday, he looked at the Wall of Champions next to the No. 1 teebox and noted the engraved name of last year’s winner, Justin Rose. Then he looked at the empty spot just below it. “In my head, I engraved my name in it,â€� Na said. He won’t have to visualize any longer. Next time he arrives at Colonial, his name will be there, alongside all the other winners, including four-time champ Ben Hogan. The ’73 Dodge Challenger, though, will not be in his garage. Harms said he has ample room in his own garage, right next to his 911 Porsche Carrera. But don’t feel too bad for Na. Asked if he owned a car that could race the Challenger, he cracked a smile. “I got a Lamborghini at home.â€�

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