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A gutted Shane Lowry has opened up on losing a three-shot lead in the final four holes at the Cognizant Classic in front of his four-year-old daughter, Ivy, in a heartwrenchingly honest interview. The 2019 Open champion has yet to win in front of his youngest child, who was born two years after his maiden major success at Royal Portrush.

Lowry's eldest child, Iris, who is now eight, was in County Antrim to see her father's victory. She had also seen him win the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship months earlier.

Success with Ivy watching, however, remains elusive. Lowry has just two wins since lifting the Claret Jug six years ago.

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She was barely a year old when he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2022. Lowry's only other success came two years later alongside Rory McIlroy at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

That is why the Irishman was left lamenting having squandered such a golden opportunity, especially with Ivy in The Palm Beaches. Lowry said: "The hardest thing about today is I've never won in front of my four-year-old, and she was there waiting for me.

"I only wanted it for her today. I don't care about anything else. I wanted it so bad. Just to see her little ginger head running out on the 18th green would have been the most special thing in the world."

Back-to-back double bogeys cost Lowry in The Bear Trap at PGA National, finishing two shots back of winner Nico Echavarria and tied for second with Taylor Moore. The late collapse also cost him the best part of £750,000, with Lowry earning around £544,000 instead of the nearly £1.3million winners' cheque.

Lowry said: "I thought I had it, I thought I was going to win. I didn't get ahead of myself, but I felt so comfortable out there, and then tried to get a lot out of my 3-iron down 16 and did the only thing I couldn't really do."

He added: "I'm obviously extremely disappointed. I had the tournament in my hands, and I threw it away. What more can I say? That's twice this year now so far, so I'm getting good at it.

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The Irishman had also blown the chance to claim a title at the Dubai Invitational back in January. He held a one-shot lead heading to the final hole of the European Tour tournament, but found water when his wayward bunker shot rolled into the lake after flying past the flag. 

His double-bogey meant par was enough for overnight leader Nacho Elvira to move ahead of him and take the title after a birdie putt on the 17th. Comparing the emotions of both days, Lowry said: "It's very disappointing. Jeez, this is going to be hard to take. 

"Dubai was hard at the start of the year, but this is going to be pretty hard," before adding: "I beat myself today. I hit two really bad shots at the wrong time and that's what this course does to you."