Shane Lowry in 2007 won the Irish Amateur Close. As an amateur he triumphed, in May 2009, at the Irish Open: it was an extraordinary result, given that only two amateurs had managed to obtain a title on the European Tour. He thus entered the world rankings at number 168.

The following week he turned pro, but the start wasn't easy, as he failed the cut in the first three tournaments. In November, however, he finished third at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan and in January 2010 he reached fourth position at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, as well as the top 100 in the world rankings. In July he participated in his first major, the Open Championship: during the qualifiers in Sunningdale he scored a score of 62, equaling Nick Faldo's record. At the Open he passed the cut and finished 37th.

His first professional victory came in 2012, when he overcame Ross Fisher at the Portugal Masters. In 2014 he earned a second place at the BMW PGA Championship and a ninth place at the Open Championship, while in 2015 he returned to success, beating Bubba Watson by two strokes at the Bridgestone Invitational of the World Golf Championships. Since then he also started playing on the PGA Tour.

He came close to winning a major at the U.S. Open 2016: first with a lead of three strokes at the end of the penultimate lap, however, on the last lap he made seven bogeys against a birdie and finished second tied with Jim Furyk and Scott Piercy, behind Dustin Johnson.

After two second places on the European Tour between 2017 and 2018, he won the 2019 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. In July, he followed a prestigious victory at the Open Championship, where he prevailed by six strokes over Tommy Fleetwood.