Shane Lowry will go into the final round of the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship trailing by just two strokes but he feels that he’s not gotten his fair share of luck at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook.
Birdies to open each nine with a single bogey on the second hole were the only times the Offaly man strayed from par on another testing day in western Florida, and his one-under round moves him to -5 overall, just two off the 54-hole lead.
His ball striking was sublime once again and he continues to lead the field in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee and ranks 20th in Strokes Gained: Approach.
It’s on the greens where he’s been lacking that bit of good fortune, however, and hopes that a reversal in those fortunes on Sunday could lead to a first individual PGA Tour victory since the Open Championship win at Portrush back in 2019.
“I tried not to get frustrated because I knew the leaders weren’t going far away from me,” he said. “But, yeah, I mean, I can’t remember the last time I hit so many good putts that burned the edge. I did hit it, like, probably a little bit too far away from the hole today. But I felt like I played a very solid round of golf, didn’t make many mistakes. But I just feel like I didn’t get rewarded at all today. I didn’t have anything happen, didn’t gain any momentum anywhere. But I’m only going to be two or three, four shots back at the most going into Sunday around here. So I know if I can go out on shoot in the mid 60s tomorrow that something could happen.”
And there’s no shortage of proof that low scores are attainable, even if the lead sits at a miserly -7. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas both made big strides up the leaderboard with rounds of -4 and -6 respectively, but the dangers of the Copperhead Course were seen in world number three Xander Schauffele’s four-over-par round that saw him tumble down the leaderboard.
“Yeah, I mean, look, it’s like you seen what happened today, J.T. [Justin Thomas] and Jordan [Spieth] went out and shot two good numbers this morning and they’re back in the tournament,” Lowry reasoned. “Yeah, so somebody’s probably going to go out tomorrow morning and shoot a low number and put themself in there, and then it’s up to the guys like myself who are out late to kind of try and get as far away as we can.”
The trio of Viktor Hovland, Nico Echavarria, and Jacob Bridgemann share the lead at seven-under, with Echavarria the big mover on the day with a five-under 66.
Hovland is chasing a first victory since the 2023 Tour Championship at East Lake, while Bridgemann is seeking a first ever PGA Tour win.
Ricky Castillo holds solo fourth at -6, while Lowry and Thomas are part of a six-way tie for fifth at -5.
Seamus Power climbed eight places with a one-under 70 that featured five birdies and four bogeys, and he lies tied for 31st heading into the fourth and final round.
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