AKRON, Ohio — The final round of the Bridgestone Invitational was supposed to unfold as a spirited duel between Jim Furyk and Justin Rose, playing partners who entered the day tied for the lead. Instead, a humid afternoon at Firestone Country Club devolved into a frantic scramble at the top.
Emerging from the chaos was Shane Lowry, a relatively unheralded Irishman, who turned in an unexpectedly sharp display to surge past Furyk and Rose and fend off a charging Bubba Watson to win the title.
Closing with a four-under-par 66, Lowry finished 11-under 269 to edge Watson, who rose up the leader board with a series of powerful drives, by two strokes.