The Open 2019 breakdown: How Shane Lowry conquered Royal Portrush and left the field trailing

Shane Lowry had missed the last four Open Championship cuts, not breaking 70 in eight attempts, prior to his dominant six-shot victory at Royal Portrush - the first major championship of his career. 

Having skipped the Scottish Open and finished T-35 at the Irish Open a fortnight ago, Lowry's form offered little sign that he would trouble the Claret Jug engraver. 

So how did he turn the 148th Open Championship into a procession? In the decade since he won the Irish Open as an amateur in driving rain at Baltray, Lowry has been a difficult player to categorise.  

Lowry's A-game has long been considered good enough to trouble the world's best fields, as victories in Abu Dhabi this season and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in 2015 attest.

The Irishman certainly has no trouble handling the pressure of being in contention, but finding the consistency to put himself there more frequently has been the problem. Lowry's seasons tend to follow a pattern of sharp peaks and long troughs - the biggest slump coming after his 2016 US Open disappointment. 

Technique and temperament might explain this boom and bust cycle. Like a batsman who relies on timing, Lowry has a slightly old-school, syrupy swing based on rhythm and the feel in his wonderfully soft hands.