was also full of praise: "It's fabulous for Irish golf. You only have to look at the fact it is such a rarity for an amateur to win, such a rarity for an Irish player to win the Irish Open. So, on a lot of fronts, it is a big deal. It was very impressive." Professional career Lowry elected to turn professional the week after his Irish Open triumph, meaning that he would miss out on the opportunity to play in the Walker Cup in September 2009. He made his professional début on 28 May at the European Open, where he shot 78 in the first round to end the opening day almost at the back of the field, and went on to miss the cut following a second round 73. Lowry missed the first three cuts of his professional career, but had his first payday on 5 July, when he finished 50th at the Open de France Alstom. He had his best professional result in 2009 in November, when he finished 3rd in the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan. In January 2010, Lowry finished in fourth place in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, moving him into the top-100 of the Official World Golf Ranking. In June 2010, Lowry qualified for his first major championship, the Open Championship at St Andrews. During the qualification, Lowry equalled Nick Faldo's course record at Sunningdale when he posted a 62. Lowry went on to make the cut at St Andrews and eventually finished in a tie for 37th place. Lowry won for the first time as a professional in 2012, at the Portugal Masters in October. He shot a 67 to tie for the lead with the Englishman Ross Fisher, who made bogey on the final hole after missing a four-foot putt. The victory lifted Lowry back into the Official World Golf Ranking top 100 and made him eligible to compete in the WGC-HSBC Champions. In 2014, Lowry was runner-up at the BMW PGA Championship in May and later tied for ninth at the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake), his best finish at a major. In August 2015, Lowry won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in the United States at Firestone in Akron, Ohio, two strokes ahead of runner-up Bubba Watson. Lowry accepted PGA Tour membership for the 2015–16 season. At the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, Lowry shot 65