Shane Lowry endures nightmare finish to hand Nico Echavarria the Cognizant Classic

Shane Lowry endured a nightmare finish at PGA National as Nico Echavarria took full advantage to win the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. 

The victory for Echavarria, 31, marks the third of his PGA Tour career and first since the ZOZO Championship in October 2024. 

Lowry, 38, appeared in cruise control for much of the final round, opening up a commanding three-shot lead with three holes to play. 

But the Irishman inexplicably sent two tee shots way right into the water on both 16 and 17 en route to consecutive double bogeys, and after Echavarria had made a clutch 12-footer for birdie on 17 in the group ahead, Lowry was suddenly two shots behind. 

Echavarria made a par down the par-5 18th for a round of 66 to set the clubhouse target of 17-under par, and Lowry was unable to make the required eagle to force a playoff.

Lowry made a par on 18 for a round of 69 and it saw him finish in a three-way tie for second alongside Taylor Moore and Austin Smotherman on 15-under par. 

The runner-up finish adds to a number of near misses for Lowry down the years at PGA National, and it also marks another tough loss already this season having missed out on the DP World Tour's Dubai Invitational to Nacho Elvira in January. 

But this one stings the most. 

"I'm obviously extremely disappointed," a distraught Lowry told reporters. 

"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. I'm getting good at it.

"Yeah, look, what can I say? I played unbelievable all day, and one bad shot on 16 completely threw me for the last three holes. It's never happened to me before.

"I said to Darren [caddie], how do I feel like this now when I went through what I did last September in Bethpage and got through that fine. I just felt like it was weird out there; I just really -- yeah, just couldn't feel the club face the last three holes then after my tee shot on 16. It was strange.

"What can I say? It's very disappointing. Geez, 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."

Lowry was going in search of his fourth career PGA Tour title and his first individual win on the circuit since The Open on home soil at Royal Portrush in 2019. 

But it was not to be, and it was Echavarria who walked away with his name on the trophy and a first prize of $1.728m. 

Echavarria, who led the field in bogey avoidance with three flawless rounds at PGA National, now moves to sixth on the FedEx Cup standings. 

"I told my wife on Monday that I think I can win this week," said Echavarria.

"We knew this course fits me well, it's a ball striker's course. I had positive thinking and we got the job done."

On Lowry's tough finish, Echavarria told reporters he knew exactly where he stood.

"Yeah, the NBC guys told me after I two-putted on 16, and then we looked back and we saw Shane's caddie running down to get the drop or get the yardage, so we knew he was probably going to make double at best there. 

"Then on 17, my caddie, when we were on the tee on 18 after we hit the tee shot in the fairway, I said, I think he hit it in the water again. It was more playing smart, getting a 5 out of there and just getting out of here."

Elsewhere, Brooks Koepka closed things out with a joint-best of the day 65, his lowest round since returning to the PGA Tour this season.

The five-time major champion finished the week inside the top 10 on 10-under par, which also marked his best result of 2026. 

After the tournament, Koepka admitted changing from a blade to a mallet putter has worked wonders for his confidence.

Koepka will next be in action at The Players Championship in two weeks' time.

The PGA Tour will now head to Bay Hill for the $20m Arnold Palmer Invitational, the third Signature Event of the season, but Koepka is not eligible to compete in that event.