Rónán MacNamara in Royal Troon
While his own hopes of winning a third Open Championship are all but over for another year, Pádraig Harrington rallied behind his compatriot Shane Lowry and is backing him to be in it to win it late on Sunday.
Lowry found the going tough on Saturday at a saturated Royal Troon as he saw his two shot lead get washed away on the back nine and he trails Billy Horschel by three shots heading into the weekend with lots of top class talent around him.
Lowry was visibly gutted by his round of 77 but Harrington knows a thing or two about coming from behind to win an Open Championship, arresting a six shot gap on the final day in Carnoustie to win the first of his Claret Jugs in a playoff in 2007.
“Shane just has to realise that no matter what happens today he will have a great chance of winning tomorrow afternoon so as tough as it gets on the back nine if he plays it great then he will have a lead and if it eats him up in some way he will still have a chance tomorrow afternoon. I would love to be in Shane Lowry’s shoes at this moment,” Harrington said after his third round as Lowry was making his way onto the back nine.”
To say conditions were tough is an understatement and Lowry was showing signs of anger and frustration throughout the third round.
When he regathers himself and gets in the frame of mind to go into battle again on Sunday, Harrington is confident Lowry can hit the right shots at the right time coming down the stretch.
“He knows what shot to hit. He is going to play the right shot at the right time and, yeah, play smart. He is a clever player in that sense.
“It’s not windy out there so it’s not about being able to hold the ball up. It does help to hit it lower out there because you don’t want the ball skidding off the face but in general he is a straight hitter and that is probably the number one thing coming down that back nine. If you can hit the fairways you are going to do fine.”
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