Highest world ranking confirmed for Shane Lowry after Open heroics

"When I hit my tee shot on 18, that was it. I was home and hosed then."

Shane Lowry went through the longest stretch of post-tournament media obligations in his career, on Sunday evening, and he was beaming throughout. The Clara native, 2019's 'Champion Golfer', spoke superbly about what his first ever Major win meant to him.

"It was just incredible to walk down 18," he said, "crowd going wild and singing 'Olé, Olé'. It was like something... I couldn't believe it was happening to me."

From the moment he walked off that 18th green on Saturday evening, having carded a stunning round of 63, it looked dead-set for Lowry to become the winner of the 148th Open Championship. Sunday was more of a grind but he was never less than three ahead of his nearest rival and he ended up winning at a canter. Lowry banked a winners' cheque of €1.7 million and he will, no doubt, receive hearty bonuses from his various sponsors. He has also earned exemptions at The Open until he is 60 (meaning 27 more championships) and at the Masters, US Open and PGA for the next five years. Monday morning saw official confirmation that Lowry has climbed to his highest ever placing in the Official Golf World Rankings. The 32-year-old ended 2018 in 75th but he has gained 160+ ranking points since January and shot up the charts. As of today, Lowry is ranked 17th in the world. It is the highest he has ever been, and surpasses his previously high - after winning the WGC Bridgestone Invitational - from 2015. The world's top five remains unchanged after The Open at Royal Portrush, but there is some significant movement below, most notably from Lowry. The Offaly native climbs from 33rd to 17th while Open runner-up Tommy Fleetwood is up eight places to 13th.

WORLD RANKINGS (July 22, 2019)

1. Brooks Koepka
2. Dustin Johnson
3. Rory McIlroy
4. Justin Rose
5. Tiger Woods

Selected others:

• Francesco Molinari (6)
• Tony Finau (12)
• Tommy Fleetwood (13)
• Shane Lowry (17)

The list of players Lowry has overtaken by clinching The Claret Jug in County Antrim is a who's who of top golfers and past Major champions - Adam Scott, Jason Day, Louis Oosthuizen, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson. Some going from the Clara man and it means he will be receiving golden ticket invites to the top golf events for the rest of 2019.