When he walked off the 11th green on the West Course at Wentworth after a two-putt par, Shane Lowry bore a look of mild frustration. Walking off the 18th green almost two hours later, he was all smiles.
He’d hit every green in regulation bar the par-3 10th – his only bogey of the day – and had taken 22 putts, two-putting for birdie on the par-5 fourth and carding nine pars besides. He was playing nicely, but not brilliantly, the weather alternated between wet and windy and less wet and windy and they’d already had a 90-minute suspension, and the clubhouse lead had already been set at -8 by Frenchman Tom Vaillant and he was joined on that number by Ludvig Åberg.
Lowry needed to get motoring, or risk finding himself with an uphill task if he was to play his way into weekend contention at the DP World Tour’s Flagship event.
Playing alongside Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, with whom he’ll jet off to New York on Sunday evening for a Ryder Cup practice session, Lowry finally one-putted a hole on the 12th where a deft chip from the back edge of the par-5 produced his second birdie and it lit a fire inside the Offaly man.
A nice approach to 13 provided an eight-foot look for birdie, and, like buses, his second one-putt followed. A two-putt par on 14 was the only time for the remainder of the round that he’d take more than one swipe with his flatstick, rolling in a 20-footer for birdie on 15, a 10-footer for par on 16, and then a relative tap-in on 17 and a literal tap-in on 18 to close out with five birdies in his final seven holes and thrust himself into the top 10 on the leaderboard.
For most of the round, it looked as though McIlroy, fresh off his memorable victory at The K Club, would be take leading Irishman honours in the group and in the tournament, taking over from Tom McKibbin who fired a three-under 69 in the early wave.
McIlroy started brightly with a chip-in birdie at the first after a mammoth drive and an approach that spun off the front, and he two-putted for birdie to move to -2 through four shortly after returning to the course following the delay. A bogey on five halted his early momentum, but he got back on the birdie train on the par-3 10th, holing an 11-footer, then holed two further putts from outside 13 feet for birdies on 15 and 17 to move to -4 with the par-5 18th to play.
After splitting the fairway with another sublime tee shot, he pulled a 5-iron from 210 yards to the right and splashed down in the hazard short that guards the front and left side of the green, and then couldn’t get up-and-down to save par, dropping just his second shot of the day, and falling back into a share of 33rd alongside fellow Holywood man, McKibbin.
A birdie at the last would’ve put him alongside Lowry in a tie for eighth, and an eagle – and he was definitely thinking eagle – would’ve moved him up to fourth.
It was a mixed day for Pádraig Harrington, who made four birdies three bogeys and a double bogey to turn in a one-over 73.
Lowry and McIlroy will take to the course at 08:45 for round two, with Harrington on the first tee at 11:55 and McKibbin beginning his second round at 13:30.
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