His dad died picking him up from golf. Then came U.S. Open Sunday and a putt

Thursday, during Round 1, he shot two-over 72. Friday, a 73. He made the cut on the button. There’d be a Saturday. And a Sunday. 

“I was grinding,” he said of the second round. “I didn’t have the best week. Yesterday, my trap kind of flared up again. I kind of get some pain on the way back. I was really happy the way I hit the ball coming down the stretch and I had some makeable putts. I wish I would have made a couple of them so I didn’t have to just rely on parring 18. Obviously was able to do it and make the cut. I was blessed, for sure.”

Saturday, Lower shot 74. 

On to Sunday. 

The moment hit early.

“Yeah, the first round, first tee shot, I got a little bit emotional thinking about it all,” Lower said. “And the first tee shot today. Yeah, it’s just … first Sunday tee shot at the U.S. Open. It’s pretty cool.” 

What was he thinking about?

“Just hit the fairway,” Lower said. “No, just hit the fairway and get off to a good start. I just wish my dad and my brother that they were here to see it. I mean, that’s almost 20 years ago, so it’s in the past. Still would’ve been nice to have them here.”

He bogeyed 2. He birdied 6, but bogeyed 7. 

But then he birdied 10. He was even.

What if he shot par on Sunday?  

He bogeyed 15. He’d flown the green on the par-3 with his tee shot. 

On the 540-yard par-4 16th, after a 350-yard pop down the fairway, Lower hit to 43 feet.   

He made it. A bomb. A miracle. 

Even.  

He finished that way. On 18, he hugged his caddie. 

And Lower started to assess. 

The day was good. He said his driving improved. But he’d wanted to shoot under par. The putt on 16 was good. But he groaned about missed opportunities. Overall, the week was good. He’ll remember most how difficult Pinehurst was.  

Like father, like son, right? 

Afterward, Lower was also asked this: 

The moment during qualifying, you mentioned your dad. What do you think he’d tell you after this week?

“Probably good week overall, but could’ve been better. It’s what he’d normally say.”

Only Lower gave him more. 

“I think he would have been happy the way I handled myself this week. Because I usually get pretty fired up throughout the week if I make mistakes and whatnot. But I told myself, it’s obviously going to be hard. Bogeys are going to happen. Bad shots are going to happen. Unlucky breaks are going to happen. Just accept it and move on. I wish I could be like that every week. I would be in a lot better shape. 

“Yeah, I think he’d be happy, for sure.”

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.