Golf is just a dream in Stark County. Every water hazard is a block of ice, a hard reminder Ohio is no place to train for what Justin Lower is doing.
Lower, who grew up at Lyons Den playing golf for Northwest High School, is on the hottest streak of his PGA Tour life, heading for tournaments at Torrey Pines this week and Pebble Beach next week with three top-five finishes across his last five events.
The former small-college star from Malone has yet to win since finally, past age 30, earning a PGA Tour card late in 2021. But “close” counts in his job, as reflected by his updated number of $5.1 million on the career money list.
No man who honed his game in Stark County has come close to what Lower is doing.
How is he taking it?
“It’s not really a big deal,” he told the Repository by phone from California. “I haven’t accomplished a lot.
“Maybe I’m a little more focused. Maybe things are just going my way a little bit, some good breaks here and there, but nothing crazy or too outrageous.”
“Obviously, I would love to win. It would be very gratifying to prove to myself I can do it. In our sport, winning is probably the hardest thing to do.
“I think a lot about my time out on Tour and, at some points, I feel like more of a statistic out here than than anything. I probably shouldn’t have made it out here, but it is what it is, and I am out here, trying to do the best that I can.”
Some golf fans won’t tune in until the Pebble Beach Pro-Am next week, others not until The Masters in April. But while the NFL playoffs were going on Sunday, Lower was on another channel, playing in The American Express. He tied for third place with Jason Day, who placed second in last year’s U.S. Open.
Sepp Straka, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound Austrian, muscled his way to the win. Lower finished one shot behind runner-up Justin Thomas, a two-time PGA Player of the Year.
Lower had the lead on the first day after back-to-back eagles. He hung near the top of a 156-man field in which Tony Finau, who has had a top five finish in all four Majors, didn’t make the cut.
On the fourth and final day, Lower said, he managed “nerves” and “adrenalin” as best he could, and was as aggressive as seemed prudent.
Lower lives half his life on the road. His full-time residence is near the Stark County/Summit County border, in Green.
His wife, Janise, and their toddler daughter, Ari, stayed home when he played at Hawaii this month. They usually accompany him, as they did for his third-place finish.
“Ari is 2 now,” he said. “She’s growing and just loving life. It’s fun to watch.”
The Lowers are together near San Diego, where the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines began a day earlier than usual to be clear of Sunday’s NFL conference championship games. He struggled to a 4-over-par 75 in Wednesday’s first round, a sign of Tour ups and downs — after his No. 2 and No. 5 finishes in November, he ended the fall season by missing a cut.
If he doesn’t make this week’s cut, he can rest up for one of the Tour’s signature events, next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, just up the Pacific Coast.
Amidst the grind, what does he try to do to keep his game at a maximum level, while based in a state where golf shuts down for four months?
“I don’t know if it’s ever at maximum level,” he said. “I just kind of make it work.
“I hit on simulators. I have a very expensive putting green in my basement that I use a lot.
“It was fortunate to be able to travel to Scottsdale weeks before the season so I could knock the rust off.”
Lower turned some heads last year when he qualified for his first Major, the U.S. Open. He made the cut and moved up to 50th, one shot behind Scottie Scheffler, on the final day, when his round was a stroke better than champion Bryson DeChambeau’s.
His hot streak began in November as the 2024 season wrapped up. He tied for second in the Worldwide Technology Championship in Mexico, then tied for fifth in the Butterfield Bermuda Classic.
He opened 2025 by barely making the 60-man cut in the Sony Open in Hawaii, eventually finishing 37th. He shot 9-under in his first round at The American Express and spent four days near the lead.
January seems like golf season on payday. Lower’s third place Sunday was worth $519,200, more than 10 times the $48,000 he won in June at the U.S. Open.
It took years on the “B tour” (Korn Ferry) before he won a PGA Tour card. He had his best PGA Tour season in 2024, making 22 of 31 cuts.
Set to turn 36 on April 4, he is young enough to be in his golfing prime, old enough not to get ahead of himself.
“Every event is really hard,” he said. “Everyone in every field can play. This past week on paper was a little stronger than others, but every event on the PGA Tour, even on the Korn Ferry Tour, is top notch.
“The competition is real, and it’s grueling. Day by day it’s people who play really, really good golf.”
What’s it like to have been being close to the lead during his hot streak?
“I just try to remain as calm as possible,” he said. “It’s not always easy. I definitely struggle with letting the emotions get to me in some things. The times I’m better at that, it seems to pay off.”
Life is full of work, the adventure of traveling with his wife and daughter. He has friends back home, friends on the Tour, an agent he likes, a swing coach he trusts, and a personal trainer.
“I have a really, really good team,” he said.
Through three events on the PGA Tour’s 2025 schedule, he ranks No. 18 among 139 players who have scored points toward the FedEx Cup Standings. His final rank in the 2024 season was No. 69. The season before that, it was No. 100.
He has climbed to a career-best No. 74 in the World Golf Rankings, a bit behind Jordan Spieth, a bit ahead of Rickie Fowler. To qualify for The Masters, he would need to get to the top 50, or win a tournament.
“Eventually, everyone wants to get to the Masters,” he said. “It’s very, very hard to get in.
“My main goal is just to see how good I can get.”
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
