It was not good enough for Shane Lowry. He tried his best to fight for every shot in the final round, just as he promised his coach, Neil Manchip. But things did not turn out to be the best for him after all. If you have been following this major closely, you must have believed that Lowry would sweep the title this season.

After all, he shot 65, and 69 in the first two rounds, but it was Saturday when things went haywire. He shot 6 over and failed to come back strongly on Sunday as he carded 3 under. As a consequence, he finished T6, three strokes behind the winner Xander Schauffele. But what happened next? Does Shane Lowry hold a grudge against Xander Schauffele? He sure is gutted, but not enough to not congratulate his fellow golfer.

Shane Lowry sends a message to his Olympic rival

The golfer talked about his heartbreak in a post on his official X handle. This post-event statement read, “The greatest walk in golf, and I got to do it for the last 4 days. There is nothing like the buzz of being on the hunt at @TheOpen at the weekend. Gutted I didn’t do better but thanks everyone for their support. Well done, @XSchauffele. Roll on Paris ☘️” Despite his own heart-wrenching loss, Lowry sent his best wishes to Schauffele.

Wishing Schauffele luck for the upcoming Paris Olympics, where 2x major winner would be defending his gold medal, Lowry also reflected on how ‘gutted’ he is for not performing better than what he was able to this week. Interestingly, Lowry will also be representing Ireland and will be on the gold quest.

He sure will be excited for Paris, but at the moment, he is extremely disappointed with his Open Championship results. He also mentioned as per BBC, “There’s no two ways about it. I’d a great chance of winning this Open and it’s going to hurt for a few days.”

The golfer is also aware of how the golf critics are going to say that he had a legitimate chance at winning. But Lowry knows it better! It was extremely difficult on the greens, as he claimed. He further observed his own contribution and efforts that might go unnoticed. Lowry stated, “I did everything I could. Unfortunately, I came up short. Hopefully, over the next five to 10 years, I’ll give myself another few chances in tournaments like this and get one more. Like I said at the start of the week, all I want is one more [major].”

Xander Schauffele is the only golfer to win two majors in the same calendar year since Jordan Spieth‘s two major wins in 2015. This has brought Schauffele quite some appreciation from several golfers such as the six-time Major winner, Phil Mickelson, along with other golfers.

Golfers send their best wishes to the 2x major winner

HyFyler GC’s captain, Phil Mickelson, wrote, “What an incredible performance by @XSchauffele A final round 65 with -4 on the difficult back 9 to win The Open and become CGOTY is simply amazing. Congratulations, what a year, keep it up in Paris too!”  With his commendable congratulatory message to the winner, Lefty showed that he sure gives appreciation when due, and does not care about the whole LIV Golf vs PGA Tour fiasco. Mickelson spoke very highly of Keegan Bradley taking on the 2025 Ryder Cup captaincy too, showing yet again the kind of a golfer he is.

Justin Rose, who tied for the runner-up position along with Billy Horschel, also congratulated Schauffele. Rose believed that Schauffele deserved this title. He said, “Congrats Xander. A two-time major champ and deservedly so.” According to the UK Mirror, Rose also spoke about how he felt after his performance on the greens of Royal Troon. The golfer wrote, “I felt I stood tall and gave it a good go today and all week long. I walked off the 18th hole after each round feeling I got something out of the day. Thanks for the support out there. Means a lot!! The dream of the jug is still alive!”

Do you think Schauffele will present the USA with a similar strength at the Paris Olympics? Let us know in the comments below.