Shane Lowry put in an excellent performance to card a five-under 67 and move to the top of the leaderboard at the midpoint of day two at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Playing alongside close friend and fellow countryman Rory McIlroy for the second day in succession, Lowry birdied six of the 18 holes on day two, with the lone dropped shot coming at the par-5 16th, but it was enough to open up a two-stroke gap over first round leader Wyndham Clark who followed his opening five-under with a one-under 71.
The Offaly native opened his birdie account with a 20-footer on the par-3 second and quickly doubled up with a seven-footer on the next after a pinpoint wedge. Birdie chances came and went on both par-5s on the front, but he took advantage of another excellent tee shot on the par-3 seventh to move to -3 for the day and grab a share of the lead.
After a good par save on eight, he made the turn at -6 overall, but was immediately back on the birdie trail after another sublime wedge to the short par-4 10th and this time, he took sole possession of the lead.
Another birdie chance went by the wayside on the par-5 12th, but a 35-foot bomb on 13 made up for that, looking for all the world as though it was going to come up short but dropped in dead weight.
🚨Shane Lowry leads the Arnold Palmer Invitational ☘️ @LowryTracker
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) March 7, 2025
His hopes of going bogey-free for the round disappeared on the 16th where, having been forced to layup, he missed a four-footer for par, taking his par-5 scoring to +1 on the day and he surrendered the lead to Clark once again, but he made amends at the last, pouring in a sliding 17-footer to move back to -8.
Playing two groups behind, Clark suffered a late stumble as a double bogey on 15 and a bogey on 17 sandwiched a birdie on 16 and he got into the clubhouse at -6, one shot ahead of Corey Conners in solo third.
“Yeah, obviously pretty good,” Lowry summed up his feelings afterwards. “Eight-under after two rounds around this place is pretty good. Excited to have a late tee time here tomorrow and looking forward to the weekend.”
Despite his position at the head of the pack, he’s not entirely comfortable just yet with the new driver that he’s put in the bag. He found himself on the range on Tuesday testing out a wide range of Srixon Drivers and is still getting used to the one he selected.
“I don’t have a lot of trust in it at the minute,” he said. “There’s a lot of tough tee shots out here and you really need to trust yourself. It’s getting there, it felt a little better, but not as comfortable as I normally am. It’s normally one of the best clubs in my bag. But I feel like when I do get it in play I can be pretty dangerous.
“Yeah, I didn’t drive it great around PGA National and figured there was something wrong with my driver. I’ve been testing a few this week. I used a different one on Sunday last week, and then tested a few on Tuesday. I found one that I really like, but it just takes a lot of trust on the course. When you get to a golf course like this there’s a handful of really, really tough tee shots that you really need a great level of commitment and trust, and I’ll try to do that for the weekend.”
His final swing with the driver was one to take comfort in, however, having missed the fairway wide to the right on Thursday which lead to a closing bogey whereas he was able to make birdie from the fairway on Friday.
“I hit a great tee shot up 18,” he said. “18 is one of the tougher tee shots on the course. If you miss it, you know you’re going to make bogey or pretty much you probably are. So after playing 16 the way I did, hit a brutal tee shot there, to play 17, 18 the way I did I was pretty happy with myself.”
Playing alongside McIlroy is something that Lowry relishes as it allows him to relax between shots but he also knows that Rory is a fierce competitor with a great track record around Bay Hill.
“I’m kind of a talker on the course anyway,” he explained. “So like if I’m playing with somebody I like and get on well with I’ll have conversations in the walk between shots. It’s a long day out there, so you need to occupy your mind somehow. I felt like we had a good time with doing our job at the same time. I know he’s going to be frustrated with his finish, but we’re both out there and both [in it] going into the weekend. When I seen the draw at the start of the week I was pretty excited about it. I know Rory’s record around here, and I knew he was going to play pretty well, and I knew I was going to have to play well to keep up with him. And I’m happy with my couple day’s work.”
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