Shane Lowry rolled back the years to 2009 in Baltray when he fired a course record 62 to take control of the Amgen Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg.
Lowry fired nine birdies with just one blemish on the 13th to sit three shots clear of Haotong Li and Jacob Skov Olesen on eleven-under-par at the time of writing as he looks for his first home victory since 09 and his maiden triumph as a professional.
“It was amazing. To see the crowd, the support I got and the way I played out there it was one of the more enjoyable days I’ve had,” said the Clara man who is aiming to end a drought that dates back to the 2022 BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth.
After an opening 67 in very testing conditions, the wind lay down with Doonbeg looking splendid in the sun but also vulnerable to low scores. Lowry knew he had to attack and make as much ground as possible ahead of the treacherous conditions expected on Saturday.
While Rory McIlroy lamented a cold putter, Lowry could barely miss with the flat stick, making three birdies in a row from the 3rd, including a 23-footer on the 4th. He then made three successive gains again from the 7th including a 24-footer on the difficult par-3 7th.
“I went out there it was the same again, needed a good start, holed a nice tricky par putt on the first and hit a good shot into 3 and made birdie there and that got me going. I felt like I did a really good job of being aggressive and patient at the same time and taking my chances when I got them,” said Lowry who also rolled in short birdies on 11 and 12 and he was pleased to recover from a bogey on 13 with a birdie on 15.
The big moment of the round came on the par-5 10th when Lowry’s second shot got tangled in the fescue grass and he could only chop out his third a mere few feet and his dancing feet did well to sidestep his ball as it tricked out of the long stuff.
He fist pumped the ten foot par putt home with gusto to keep things moving.
“I felt like I hit a decent second shot, I think I got quite unlucky there. Yeah, just managed to hole that putt, I don’t know how, and it kicked me on the rest of the round. I did a good job after that.”
With rough weather expected tomorrow and potential gusts of up to 50 km\h, so strong that Donald Trump’s chopper may struggle to land, it will be hold on to your hat stuff.
“We’ll see. If there’s a bit of weather nobody will be going out and shooting 62 tomorrow. It will be up to me to try and keep myself up there and give myself a chance on Sunday afternoon. If I’m up there I know this crowd will be behind me and they’ll be the 15th club in the bag hopefully roaring me home.”
Lowry has had his fair share of near misses over the years as he looks for his first win since 2022, including two great chances in Dubai and Florida where he collapsed late on at the Cognizant Classic.
The Cognizant was a blow that lingered throughout his summer but he insists he is ready to put himself in the firing line again and give his all over the weekend.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself on weeks like this because I want to perform I am very happy and proud of how I did the last two days. Golf tournaments are 72 holes which I found out a few times this year so it’s up to me to kick on the weekend and give it a good run. It won’t be too enjoyable out there tomorrow, it’ll be quite stressful with tough times but I feel like I am up to the task I will give it everything.”
Tom McKibbin was his usual steady self as he cared a 67 to share fourth on five-under and trail Lowry by six shots and he is excited for the new experience of contending on home soil in just his fifth Irish Open start.
“Yeah, it’s exciting. I sort of never really had a chance the last couple I played. So to go into the weekend there or thereabouts will certainly be fun.”
While Lowry was deadly on the greens, McIlroy was anything but as a stone cold putter saw him lose ground with a 69 to sit nine back on two-under.
The highlight of his day was a kick in eagle after launching his approach to a few feet on the par-5 8th from 268 yards but it was a frustrating day which saw him miss five putts from inside fifteen feet on the front nine.
“Frustration. I just didn’t, yeah, I just didn’t have it on the greens. I really struggled to read them. It’s hard whenever you struggle to read them, and then when you do get over the ball you’re trying to trust what you’re seeing, but everything else that you have seen hasn’t went the way you thought, so it’s hard to put a committed stroke on it. So yeah it’s been a tough one on the greens the last two days. But tee to green I’ve actually been pretty happy with how everything else is. I just need to try to hole a few more over the weekend.”
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