Following his six-shot rout at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush, Shane Lowry was set to fly across the Atlantic to play in Memphis at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He has now withdrawn from the event, according to the PGA Tour.
.@TheOpen champion Shane Lowry has withdrawn from the @WGCFedEx. #pgatour
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) July 23, 2019
There is no official reason listed for the withdrawal, but earlier Tuesday Lowry tweeted that he couldn’t “wait to come home tonight” for a “really special night” in his hometown of Clara in Ireland.
Can’t wait to come home tonight. It’s going to be a really special night https://t.co/wMx2bq2YrW
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) July 23, 2019
Lowry earned his first PGA Tour victory at this event in 2015 when it was held at Firestone CC in Akron, Ohio. This year marks the tournament’s debut in Memphis, taking over from the former FedEx St. Jude Invitational that was annually played in June.
There are no alternates for WGC events, meaning that Lowry will not be replaced at TPC Southwind. Instead the field will reduce to 63 players, including Dustin Johnson who won on this course last year and Justin Thomas, who is technically the tournament’s defending champion following his victory last year at Firestone.