Category Sports News

Cognizant Classic – final leaderboard

-17 N Echavarria (Col); -15 T Moore (US), S Lowry (Ire), A Smotherman (US); -13 R Castillo (US); -11 N Hojgaard (Nor), W Mouw (US), K Mitchell (US)

Ireland’s Shane Lowry says he had the Cognizant Classic “in my hands but threw it away” as he found water off the tee on both the 16th and 17th holes to blow his three-shot lead.

The Ryder Cup star looked set for victory at Palm Beach Gardens but double bogeys on those two holes allowed Colombia’s Nico Echavarria to win on 17 under par.

Lowry ended two shots behind on 15 under for a share of second – the same position he finished in the Dubai Invitational earlier this year.

At Dubai Creek, Lowry made a double bogey on the final hole to finish runner-up and the 38-year-old admits his failure to close out victories stings.

“I’m obviously extremely disappointed. I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away,” said Lowry, who holed the putt that retained the Ryder Cup for Europe last year.

“I’d say I was beaten that day in Dubai. But I beat myself today. That’s twice this year now. I’m getting good at it.

“What can I say? I played unbelievable all day, and one bad shot on 16 completely threw me for the last three holes. This is going to be hard to take.”

On the last 13 times Lowry has entered the final round of a solo tournament in the top three he won just once – The Open in 2019.

He says missing out in Florida was particularly difficult because he is still waiting for his first victory in front of his four-year-old daughter.

“I only wanted it for her. I don’t care about anything else. I wanted it so bad. Just to see her little ginger hair running down the 18th green would have been the most special thing in the world,” he said.

“I thought I had it. I thought I was going to win.”

Four birdies as well as an eagle on the 10th had Lowry cruising towards victory before it unravelled in the final three holes.

Echavarria, 31, took advantage by carding five birdies in a five-under 66 that secured his third PGA Tour victory.

Cognizant Classic – final leaderboard

-17 N Echavarria (Col); -15 T Moore (US), S Lowry (Ire), A Smotherman (US); -13 R Castillo (US); -11 N Hojgaard (Nor), W Mouw (US), K Mitchell (US)

Ireland’s Shane Lowry says he had the Cognizant Classic “in my hands but threw it away” as he found water off the tee on both the 16th and 17th holes to blow his three-shot lead.

The Ryder Cup star looked set for victory at Palm Beach Gardens but double bogeys on those two holes allowed Colombia’s Nico Echavarria to win on 17 under par.

Lowry ended two shots behind on 15 under for a share of second – the same position he finished in the Dubai Invitational earlier this year.

At Dubai Creek, Lowry made a double bogey on the final hole to finish runner-up and the 38-year-old admits his failure to close out victories stings.

“I’m obviously extremely disappointed. I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away,” said Lowry, who holed the putt that retained the Ryder Cup for Europe last year.

“I’d say I was beaten that day in Dubai. But I beat myself today. That’s twice this year now. I’m getting good at it.

“What can I say? I played unbelievable all day, and one bad shot on 16 completely threw me for the last three holes. This is going to be hard to take.”

On the last 13 times Lowry has entered the final round of a solo tournament in the top three he won just once – The Open in 2019.

He says missing out in Florida was particularly difficult because he is still waiting for his first victory in front of his four-year-old daughter.

“I only wanted it for her. I don’t care about anything else. I wanted it so bad. Just to see her little ginger hair running down the 18th green would have been the most special thing in the world,” he said.

“I thought I had it. I thought I was going to win.”

Four birdies as well as an eagle on the 10th had Lowry cruising towards victory before it unravelled in the final three holes.

Echavarria, 31, took advantage by carding five birdies in a five-under 66 that secured his third PGA Tour victory.

Australian Grand Prix organisers say they are “really confident” the travel chaos caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East will not impact the opening race of the Formula 1 season this weekend.

Close to 1,000 members of staff have been forced to rearrange flights, with an estimated 500 of them reportedly set to be flown from Europe on charter planes.

It comes after the US and Israel launched an attack against Iran on Saturday, sparking retaliatory strikes across the region.

F1 also said it was “closely monitoring” the situation, with upcoming races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia scheduled in April.

Australian Formula 1 chief Travis Auld said on Monday that “everyone will be here ready for the race” as Melbourne prepares to host the 2026 curtain-raiser.

Many drivers and other key personnel based in Europe have had travel plans affected by the major disruption to global air transport, with key routes through Qatar and the United Arab Emirates impacted.

“The last 48 hours have required some reshuffling of flights,” Auld said.

“That is largely Formula 1’s responsibility. They take charge of the teams, drivers and all the personnel that are required here to make this event happen. There’s quite a number of them.

Auld told Australian broadcaster Channel Nine that three charter planes would fly an estimated 500 of the near-1,000 affected F1 staff from Europe.

“All the freight is here and ready to go. We’re in a space where we’re really confident there will be no impact,” Auld said.

F1 heads to China and Japan – which are not expected to be impacted – before rounds four and five are scheduled in Bahrain (12 April) and Saudi Arabia (19 April).

An F1 spokesperson said: “Our next three races are in Australia, China and Japan and not in the Middle East – those races are not for a number of weeks.

“As always, we closely monitor any situation like this and work closely with relevant authorities.”

Auld, speaking to Fox Sports, said: “I’m sure [F1] are thinking ahead to what the implications might be.