Rónán MacNamara in Royal Troon
Rory McIlroy believes Shane Lowry’s creativity will be a huge asset over the weekend as he looks to win the Open Championship for the second time.
Strong winds and some big names missing the cut has been the theme of the first 36 holes in Royal Troon but while McIlroy may have bowed out early, he is excited to see if his Irish Olympic teammate can go all the way here.
“I can’t wait to watch this weekend. He’s so creative. I think even just watching the coverage the last couple of days, that little sort of squeezy cut that he can hit, especially going out in that front nine, is going to be really helpful to him,” explained McIlroy who missed the halfway cut by five shots on +11.
“Yeah, look, he relishes these conditions. He loves playing these conditions. The Open Championship is his favourite tournament in the world. He gets more up for this than anything else.
“I’m looking forward to cheering him on and hopefully him getting his second jug.”
For McIlroy, the book has been written about a major-less decade and a horror start to his second round on Friday where he was six-over after six holes put paid to his already faint hopes of making the cut and he spent the remaining twelve holes thinking of his holiday next week despite playing that stretch in ten pars and two birdies.
“Obviously got off to the worst start possible today, being 6-over through six. But then played the last 12 holes pretty well, bogey-free. If I need to remember something about this week, it’ll be the last few holes that I played.
“I think once I made the 8 on the 4th hole, that was it. 22 holes into the event and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on vacation next week. Yeah, it was a pretty meaningful 14 holes after that.”
McIlroy admitted on Thursday that he struggled in the wind as gusts that he hadn’t practiced in pre-tournament blew him out of contention. Gusts of over 30mph proved too challenging on the front nine for him as well and a horror four holes from the third where he went bogey, triple bogey, bogey, bogey left him making up the numbers for the afternoon as he carded a round of 75.
“When I look back on the two majors that I didn’t play my best at, here and the Masters, the wind got the better of me on Friday at Augusta, and then the wind got the better of me the last two days here.
“I didn’t adapt well at all to that left-to-right wind yesterday on the back nine, and then this afternoon going out in that gusty wind on the front, as I said, it got the better of me, and I felt pretty uncomfortable over a few shots.
“Yeah, that four-hole stretch to start off is what cost me.”
The Holywood man is not prepared to soul search just yet and won’t let another season without a major be defined by four events even if his wait for a fifth major title will enter an eleventh year.
“I feel like I say this every Open Championship, but it’s not as if we only play four events a year. We play like 25, so there’s still a few things there’s left to play for. Obviously the majors have come and gone, but to sort of refocus and try to reset for the Olympics, which will be another cool experience, and try to play well there, and then again, I’m in contention to try to win both titles on either side of the Atlantic, so still some things to play for until the end of the year.”
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