An Ode to Shane Lowry's Beautiful Shank at the 2026 PGA Championship

I like Shane Lowry. He’s a good quote and good bloke, even though he is prone to occasional bouts of petulance. It can’t be easy, being Rory McIlroy’s best friend in golf, and having to frequently serve as the Rory Oracle for the media. So I do not say this with mockery or derision. I say it with genuine appreciation. 

I loved watching the cold, nasty shank he hit on Friday during the second round of the 2026 PGA Championship. 

I loved it because I lived it, that nightmarish hosel-first smother pull, that wounded sparrow that divebombs into a lake like it’s trying to put out a fire in its tailfeathers. 

A flighted 5-iron that chases to a back pin? I don’t have that shot. 

But I do have the kind of shot that looks like it could have been fired out of a Revolutionary War-era musket. I have hit balls that look like a car that just blew a tire while trying to pass a semi-truck on the right shoulder of the interstate. 

Bad shots in professional golf are way more common than you might realize. Every player hits them, and we’re seeing plenty this week in Philadelphia. Aronimink is a nice reminder that wind and firm greens are the only elements left that make players uncomfortable. 

But a great shank from a great player is a much rarer thing. It’s like a glitch in a video game, or a sneeze in your downswing. They are art in the sense that no two shanks are alike. You can hit a good shot that drifts 20 yards offline and shrug your shoulders, knowing you weren’t that far from perfect. But the minute you hosel-skip a ball into a pond, you start to question your entire self-worth. You contemplate walking directly into the ocean. The difference on the clubface might be less than an inch, but in your mind, it’s as vast as the Grand Canyon. 

A shank is not a curse. It’s a reminder of how close we are — each round — to flirting with madness. How does anyone ever make contact with a tiny ball and send it barrelling toward a distant pin? I have no idea. What an insane endeavor. 

Thank you, Shane Lowry, for briefly returning to earth to walk with us mortals. I hope you don’t have to visit our broken world again anytime soon.