Shane Lowry has described coming second at the US Open as one of the most disappointing moments of his life, and revealed the enormous anguish he endured as Major glory slipped through his fingers.
Lowry strode into the Oakmont Sunday sunshine with a four-stroke lead at the top of the leaderboard, but that advantage went up in smoke as Dustin Johnson surged past the out-of-sorts Offaly man.
The American eventually beat Lowry into a three-way tie for second, lifting the title with three strokes to spare.
With fantasies of passing the trophy on to his watching father swirling through his head, Lowry's dreams had fallen to pieces. He'd envisaged it as the perfect Father's Day gift. The pain is still raw.
"In the zone, it’s a hard place to get yourself," the 29-year-old tells Henry Shefflin in RTÉ One documentary Winning, which airs tonight [9.35pm].
You feel a bit embarrassed when you’re there and the whole world is watching you
"I was there at the US Open, for three rounds anyway, I was there. I was as good as I’ve ever been on the course. I played unbelievable.
"I didn’t look like I was going to hit a bad shot – even when I hit a bad shot it didn’t feel like a bad shot because I was in such a good frame of mind.
"Everything happened so slowly over the first three rounds. Then, as things begin to unravel, everything starts happening quick.
"Before you know it you’ve 14 holes played and you’re after making three or four bogeys and you’re like, 'okay what do I do now?’
"Your mind’s racing. It was a long week, I was tired physically and mentally. I was restless. It was just one of those things."
Four bogeys through the first ten holes ate away at Lowry's confidence, and the belief that had carried him to the cusp of glory vanished into thin air.
A best ever finish at a Major provided no solace. With his family watching on at the course and countless friends and relations back home waiting to toast a famous success, he was overwhelmed by a feeling of failure.
“You feel a bit embarrassed when you’re there and the whole world is watching you," Lowry says.
"If someone offered you second at the start of the week you’d go ‘yeah, I’d be pretty happy with that’.
"Then I left the golf course as disappointed as I have been in my whole life. It was the worst feeling ever. My Da was there; it was Father’s Day that day.
"We wouldn’t be that soppy about that sort of stuff, but to be able to hand him that trophy... I don’t ever want to feel like that again, not being able to do that."
Henry Shefflin – Winning airs on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player tonight at 9.35pm
