British Open champion Shane Lowry withdraws from WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

Two days after his breakthrough major victory, Shane Lowry has withdrawn from this week’s World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

The move isn’t that surprising, considering the overseas travel, exhausting obligations recent major champs deal with and the fact that some pros simply want to enjoy the biggest victory of their careers a little longer. (Lowry certainly had fun on Sunday evening.) There was no reason given for Lowry’s WD.

Lowry closed with a one-over 72 on Sunday at Royal Portrush to finish 15 under overall, beating Tommy Fleetwood by six. It was the first major victory of the 32-year-old Irishman’s career.

Since the FedEx St. Jude is a WGC event and has a limited field, Lowry’s spot will not be filled. The WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational is at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn., for the first time after the event, which was previously called the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, left Akron, Ohio, after last year. Lowry’s first PGA Tour victory came at the Bridgestone Invitational in 2015, when he beat Bubba Watson by two at Firestone.

Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy (10/1) are the betting favorites to win this week’s FedEx St. Jude.

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