Seventeen years after winning the Irish Open as an amateur, Shane Lowry came back and won it again. This time he did it by eleven shots.
The Srixon staffer claimed his first victory of the 2026 season and the seventh DP World Tour title of his career with a commanding performance in Dublin, finishing at 23-under-par for the most decisive win on the DP World Tour this season.
11Shot winning margin
23Under par
62Course record, round two
1stStrokes gained: total
Lowry in control on home soil in Dublin, on the way to his second Irish Open title.
A course-record 8-under-par 62 in the second round surged him into contention and he never let up, carrying a four-shot advantage into Sunday before pulling clear of the field. It was his second Amgen Irish Open title, the first coming back in 2009 when he was still an amateur.
"This year has been quite difficult on the course for me. I've had a few chances to win and took some really tough times, but to come here and win is incredible. I can't believe I'm standing here and looking at that leaderboard. This has been the most spectacular week."
Shane Lowry
From precise iron play to his trademark touch around the greens, every part of Lowry's game was working. He ranked first in Strokes Gained: Total for the week, which is about as complete a statistical performance as a tournament produces, and the victory is expected to move him to 17th in the Race to Dubai rankings.
A new Srixon driver, straight into play
The notable equipment story of the week was at the top of the bag. Lowry had a new Srixon driver in play for the first time and found success with it immediately, ranking first in Strokes Gained: Total on a week where he led from Friday onwards.
The driver is a 9.0° head and has not yet been given a public model name or a retail release date. Tour players regularly put pre-release prototypes in play months before they reach shops, so treat this as a first look rather than something you can buy today. The current Srixon range at GolfOnline is where any launch will land.
Lowry putting the new Srixon driver in play at the Amgen Irish Open.
Shane Lowry's winning setup
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A note on tour setups.
Tour players' clubs are built to their own lofts, lies, shafts and grinds, and are often prototypes. Buying the same model gets you the same head, not the same club. If a setup interests you, the useful part is usually the thinking behind it rather than the exact spec.
Inside the Srixon ZXi7 irons
The ZXi7 is Srixon's players' iron: a compact, single-piece forging aimed at tour professionals and low-handicap golfers who want to shape the ball. It is the club that does most of the scoring in Lowry's bag, and the one his week was built on.
i-Forged construction
Condensed Forging inserts add strength around the hosel, which lets Srixon use a softer S15C steel through the single-piece body. The result is a noticeably softer feel without giving up structural strength where the head needs it.
PureFrame iQ
A wider, thicker ridge of soft S15C steel forged directly behind the sweet spot. AI-assisted simulation expanded it while using less mass than the previous generation, raising MOI and minimising face deformation for a soft but stable feel.
Tour V.T. sole
Combines varied sole widths, bounce angles and notches so the club glides through fairway, rough and sand without the leading edge digging. It is the detail that keeps a compact iron playable from imperfect lies.
Progressive grooves
The 3-iron to 7-iron use wider grooves, while the 8-iron to approach wedge switch to deeper, more closely spaced ones. Each is laser milled, so spin stays consistent across a set that has very different jobs at either end.
ZXi7 lofts and lies
Right-hand standard specifications. Swipe sideways on smaller screens.
Note the 46° pitching wedge. That is a traditional loft rather than the strengthened lofts common in game-improvement sets, and it is why Lowry's next club down is a 50° wedge: the gap works out at four degrees, which is what you want for consistent distance control.
Inside the Cleveland RTZ 2 wedges
Cleveland has been the short-game name for forty years, and the RTZ 2 is the current flagship. Roger Cleveland personally led the redesign of every sole grind for this generation, including bringing back his legendary 588 shape.
Z-Alloy
A proprietary steel that is softer and less dense than the alloys used in previous Cleveland wedges. Lower density frees up mass to be positioned more usefully in the head, so you get feel and forgiveness rather than one at the cost of the other.
ZipCore iQ
Lightweight hosel cores, uniquely optimised for each individual loft and grind combination rather than one core across the range. Redistributing that mass improves consistency on off-centre strikes, which is where wedge distance control is usually lost.
HydraZip
Face blasting plus laser-milled lines, configured differently across loft groups, designed to hold spin when there is moisture between ball and face. For UK golf that is arguably the most relevant technology in the whole wedge.
UltiZip grooves
Sharper edges to cut through grass and debris, and deeper geometry so there is more volume for that material to escape into. Sharper and deeper together is what maintains spin from the rough and out of bunkers.
Understanding the grinds
Lowry carries MID and LOW grinds, and the difference between them is the single most useful thing to understand when buying a wedge. The grind is the shape of the sole, and it determines how the club interacts with the turf.
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The simple rule on bounce.
Steep swing or soft, wet turf, take more bounce. Shallow swing or firm, dry ground, take less. If you are unsure, the MID grind is the middle ground for a reason, and it is what Lowry uses for the two wedges he hits fullest.
The ball: Srixon Z-Star XV
The Z-Star XV is the firmer, faster ball in the Z-Star family, built for players with high swing speeds who want maximum ball speed without losing greenside control. Its three-piece urethane construction runs at 102 compression, pairing distance off the driver and irons with tour-level stopping power.
The Fast Layer DG Core 2.0 starts soft at the centre and transitions to a firmer edge, which is what gives faster players both increased iron spin and significant ball speed from the same ball. Spin Skin+ coating digs deep into wedge and iron grooves to maximise spin and resist dirt, and the 338 Speed Dimple pattern reduces drag for a straighter flight in wind. The urethane cover is extra thin and now formulated using biomass materials.
If you generate the speed to compress it, the XV is the longer of the two. If your swing is more moderate, the standard Z-Star will usually feel softer and spin more. Compare the Srixon Z-Star range.
What the setup tells you
Two things stand out for club golfers. The first is the wedge spread: 50, 56 and 60 degrees, with a MID grind on the two he uses for fuller shots and a LOW grind on the lob wedge for open-faced greenside work. That is a deliberately simple, well-gapped arrangement rather than anything exotic.
The second is the iron set. A 4-iron to pitching wedge in a compact forged players' iron is a demanding choice, and it suits a golfer whose strength is precise iron play. It is worth being honest that this is not a set-up most amateurs would benefit from copying, and the ZXi range runs from these through to far more forgiving models for exactly that reason.
