Shane Lowry's daughter's sweet seven-word comment 'put a smile on his face' after tough day at The Open

Shane Lowry had a tough day at The Open, but his spirits were lifted by a comment from his seven-year-old daughter Iris . Despite leading the last major of the year going into the penultimate day, a six-over-par 77 left him three shots off the lead going into the final round.

He finished sixth after scoring a three-under 68 on Sunday. Lowry shared how Iris, noticing his sadness, reassured him that he still had a chance to win the tournament.

"I went home and Iris was there, and like she's at the age now where she understands, and she knew that I was sad," said Lowry.

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"She comes over to me and said, you've still got a chance to win. Obviously Wendy had been saying that to her before I came in. That puts a little smile on your face."

Five years after winning the Claret Jug at Portrush, Lowry started Sunday three shots behind overnight leader Billy Horschel. This followed a six-over par 77 on Saturday, a two-under 69 on Friday, and a five-under 66 on day one.

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The 37-year-old bogeyed the third hole after parring the opening two par-four holes. However, he made an impressive recovery, birdieing four of the next five, including the iconic par-three eighth, Postage Stamp, which he double-bogeyed the previous day.

This put him just one shot behind then-joint-leaders Justin Rose and Thriston Lawrence on four-under-par. He seemed to have every chance as he took to the back nine after a par on the ninth hole.

However, he had a tough time making birdies as several of his putts just missed the mark, with a bogey on the par-four 11th sandwiched between pars on the 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th. A 31-foot birdie putt fell just short.

He then missed a six-footer for birdie on the 16th, resulting in another par.

He managed to sink a good putt on the par-three 17th before finishing with a par on the 18th, ending the week four-under.