PGA Championship: Shane Lowry comes within inches of major scoring record as Scottie Scheffler splutters

His face turned skyward and scrunched in agony, it was not the expected reaction of a man about to tie a fabled record, but that’s just how close Shane Lowry came to achieving the truly historic at the PGA Championship.

His face turned skyward and scrunched in agony, it was not the expected reaction of a man about to tie a fabled record, but that’s just how close Shane Lowry came to achieving the truly historic at the PGA Championship. The Irishman levelled the lowest score ever carded at a men’s major with a spectacular nine-under 62 in his third round on Saturday to soar within two strokes of leading duo Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele, but would have posted an unprecedented 61 had his putt at the final hole settled four inches to the right. Chasing his 10th birdie of the day at Kentucky’s Valhalla Golf Club, Lowry weighted his attempt at history perfectly from just inside 12-feet but was left to tap in for par as his ball cruelly arced away from the cup at the death. “Probably the most disappointed anyone can ever be shooting 62. I knew what was at stake,” Lowry, chasing a second major crown after Open Championship glory in 2019, told reporters. “Just didn’t hit the ball hard enough. Had it on a good read and [it] just broke away from the hole … I knew I just really wanted to hole it. Probably too much. “It would have been a pretty cool moment to kind of seal the deal and do it,” he added. “But at the end of the day, I knew even if I didn’t do it that I did what I needed to do today, and I’m pretty happy with that.”