Shane Lowry of Ireland squandered a near-certain victory after stumbling into the notorious "Bear Trap."
Lowry surrendered the lead in a painful collapse at the PGA Tour Cognizant Classic (total purse $9.6 million), which concluded Monday (Korea time) at PGA National Champion Course (par 71) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, handing the trophy to Nico Echavarria of Colombia.
Starting the final round as co-leader, Lowry was bogey-free through the 15th hole, carding one eagle and four birdies to reach 6-under for the day and build a three-shot lead. Victory seemed within reach, but he could not escape the course's infamous Bear Trap—holes 15 through 17. He cleared the first hurdle with par, but the 16th hole (par 4) turned into a nightmare. His conservative 3-iron tee shot curved sharply right into the water, triggering a double bogey. His only consolation was sticking a difficult fifth shot from a greenside bunker close to the pin and salvaging the hole with a single putt. On the 17th (par 3), Lowry again found water right of the green off the tee, recording another double bogey. He finished tied for second, two shots behind Echavarria, who navigated the Bear Trap with par-par-birdie to finish at 17-under 267.
Lowry, the 2019 Open Championship winner, suffered consecutive double bogeys for the first time in his Tour career, postponing his quest for a fourth career victory. Echavarria, meanwhile, claimed his third Tour win—his first since the Zozo Championship in October 2024, a span of one year and five months—and collected $1.728 million (approximately 2.5 billion won) in prize money.
Brooks Koepka, who recently departed LIV Golf, tied for ninth at 10-under par, marking his first top-10 finish since returning to the PGA Tour. Tom Kim finished tied for 59th at 1-under.