Emotional Shane Lowry makes heartbreaking admission about daughter after blowing three-shot lead

Shane Lowry was left devastated after he suffered a collapse at the Cognizant Classic in front of his four-year-old daughter.

The Irishman looked set for a first-ever victory at the PGA National Resort in Florida when he headed into the final four holes with a three-shot lead.

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However, disaster struck when Lowry hit his tee shots into water on the 16th and 17th to record consecutive double-bogeys.

This handed the advantage to Nico Echavarria, who closed out a two-stroke victory with a 17-under 66.

With his hopes of glory destroyed, Lowry had to settle for a three-way share of second, while the Colombian pocketed the $1.7million winner’s prize.

The late collapse means Lowry has not won a solo PGA Tour event since 2019, when he triumphed at the Open Championship.

‘I wanted it so bad’

In a heart-breaking post-tournament interview, Lowry revealed he was most gutted to miss out on winning in front of his four-year-old daughter, Ivy, for the first time.

The golfer’s youngest child was born two years after his 2019 win at Royal Portrush, which he celebrated with eldest daughter Iris.

Lowry said: “I’m obviously extremely disappointed.

“I had the tournament in my hands and I threw it away. What more can I say?  

“The hardest thing about today is that I’ve never won in front of my four-year-old.

“I only wanted it for her today. I didn’t want it for – I don’t care about anything else. I wanted it so bad.

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“Just to see her little ginger hair running down the 18th green would have been the most special thing in the world.”

Speaking candidly about his late capitulation, he added: “I thought I had it. I thought I was going to win.

“I didn’t get ahead of myself, but I felt so comfortable out there, and then yeah, tried to get a lot out of my three-iron on 16 and did the only thing I couldn’t really do.”

Inside Lowry’s Cognizant collapse

Lowry looked to be cruising towards victory in Florida after four birdies in the first nine holes of the final round.

He then tightened his grip on the lead with an eagle on the 10th, before another birdie at hole 12 and a par on the 13th moved him to 19-under with a three-shot lead.

After steady pars on 14 and 15, Lowry looked in total control, but everything began to unravel when he found the water from the 16th tee and could only manage a six.

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It was deja-vu on the next hole, as the 38-year-old found another lake, with Echavarria taking advantage to birdie and reach 17-under.

To add insult to injury, Lowry then landed in the bunker on the 18th and could only scrape par, while Echavarria stormed to his third PGA Tour victory with an impressive round of five under 66.

Having to settle for tied-second, Lowry finished up on 15 under overall, alongside Americans Taylor Moore and Austin Smotherman.