Shane Lowry admits his winless drought has made him impatient but knows he has to find some discipline as he prepares for a gruelling weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Lowry birdied the 18th to chisel out a round of 71 which leaves him in a seven-way tie for the lead on seven-under alongside the likes of Open champion Brian Harman, former Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama and world number one Scottie Scheffler.
The 2019 Open champion is without a win since the 2022 BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth but has given himself a second chance in as many weeks heading into the weekend.
“It is hard to be patient and I’ve become very impatient over the last while,” confessed Lowry who saw a 54-hole lead disappear at the Cognizant Classic on Monday as he settled for 4th place.
“Maybe over the last year and a half, it hasn’t been great. But I’m not trying any less. I’m trying to be as patient as I can and just wait for those wins to come.”
Firm and crusty greens and thick rough saw scores rocket into the 80s on a difficult day in Florida.
The Offaly man held a three shot lead early on in the round after recovering from a bogey on the second with back-to-back birdies. He was two-under through six after a tap in birdie and he cancelled out an unforced error on 8 with a birdies on 13.
Things threatened to unravel after bogeys on 15 and 17 but Lowry drilled an iron to two-feet on 18 for a momentum salvaging birdie.
“I feel like I probably should have shot better than one-under today, but I’ll take it,” Lowry said. “As you see with those scores, it can get away from you quite quickly.
“I think it was important that I definitely made par anyway. It was important that I hit a good tee shot down there, because you hit a bad tee shot down 18, you know you’re behind the black ball, especially where that pin was today.
“I think, yeah, I was very happy making that birdie. It’s nice. I’m not sure the guys on 4-over are going to thank me, but, yeah, so — but there’s still guys out there that can get past us today, so we’ll see.”
Lowry is playing in his first Signature Event of the season after receiving a sponsors invite before the Cognizant Classic. The 36-year-old looks on course to break back into the top-50 after a brief hiatus this weekend.
He seems to be hitting form at the right time with the Masters less than a month away but he feels the Florida swing on the PGA Tour is the most gruelling.
“Ludvig and I were just talking about it. I think the Florida swing is probably the toughest test of golf we play all year. Obviously, last week was not as tough as it has been in the past.
“This week is always really tough. Next week is THE PLAYERS championship, the scoring can be quite good, but it’s still a tough test of golf, it’s a proper test of golf. Obviously, you go to Tampa, and it doesn’t get any easier there. So, yeah, it’s probably, I think, the toughest stretch of golf we play all year.”
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy is one-under after a second round of 70 while Seamus Power made the cut despite a 74 leaving him on +2.
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