Shane Lowry was slightly disappointed to sign for a round of 67 after getting off to a sensational start to his second round of the Valspar Championship.
Lowry played the front nine of the Copperhead course in just 29 strokes, rolling in six birdies in all, including four in his first five holes as he sauntered into the lead heading into his back nine.
Unfortunately for Lowry, things slowed up and he dropped shots on his eleventh and eighteenth holes to lie in a share of fourth place on four-under, currently three strokes shy of Nico Echavarria who is four-under through his first five holes.
“I just got it going. I got some nice numbers and then hit some good shots, and when I hit good shots I converted the putts,” said Lowry who birdied his first three holes before adding further gains on the 14th, 16th and 17th as he rolled in over 60-feet worth of putts on his front nine alone.
“I played that nine holes pretty flawlessly, didn’t really miss many shots. When I did, I played the 18th pretty average and got it up-and-down for par.
“So yeah, unfortunately, I wasn’t as good on the other nine, but I think 4-under on a day like today, if you had given me that in the locker room this morning I would have taken it.”
Lowry led the strokes gained off the tee ranking in the opening round and is ranked 8th overall in that category. After a tinkering with a new driver at Bay Hill a few weeks ago he now feels comfortable again with the big stick.
“My driver that I’ve been using for a couple of months, I think something happened to it. And I got one the Tuesday at Bay Hill. I struggled at Bay Hill because I just wasn’t overly happy with — it’s an uncomfortable golf course with driver, even if you’re driving the ball really well.
“So I had a new one in play, and just some of the tee shots are quite tough. So, no, but the last two weeks have been well, I drove it very well last week at The Players and drove it well yesterday and today as well.”
The Offaly man is chasing his first individual victory since the 2022 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and did hold the 36-hole lead at Bay Hill earlier this month but failed to convert.
He is relishing another tilt at at long overdue title this weekend.
“Another late tee time on Saturday. The weather is getting a bit better this afternoon so somebody might get away this afternoon but I think I will be late enough tomorrow and with two good days I can be dangerous.”
Meanehile, Seamus Power is safely through to the weekend on level-par despite struggling to a round of 72.
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