Shane Lowry remains in great shape heading into the final round at the RBC Heritage despite dropping one stroke behind American, Dustin Johnson on moving day at Hilton Head.
At one point, the Clara man had reached 12-under par and even opened up a three-shot lead on the field but conditions proved much more difficult on day three in South Carolina. With the wind up, Lowry bogeyed three holes on the way in, finding water on the par-3 14thbefore bravely making a 25-footer to limit the damage to just one.
“I actually felt like I hit a decent tee shot. But I didn’t think it was going to go short. I was trying to get out of there with a 5 and holed out with a 4 and obviously that was huge,” reflected Lowry post-round.
After going long on the last, the 32-year old almost found the perfect finish with a delicately played chip down the slope but even with his birdie lipping out, Lowry navigated his day in level-par 71 and finds himself just one back of DJ who leads on his own at 10-under.
“It was a long round of golf,” admitted Lowry who was out early Saturday morning to complete round two after rain suspended play on Friday. “I got off to a nice start, just a couple of silly mistakes.
“I saw Dustin bogeyed 16 and 17 though so it’s nice being only one behind. Even making those bogeys, it was the best I’ve been in a while. So, I just want the same tomorrow.”
Having entered the week after a particularly disappointing trip to the Masters, Lowry looks to be getting out of his way at long last and with the wind easing for today’s final round, he’s looking forward to playing with the same freedom this evening as he has done over the first three days.
“I’ll be very relaxed,” added Lowry. “It was just tricky. I mean I felt good out there. I felt like I hit some nice shots and just didn’t get rewarded. It’s close enough to 25 mile an hour among the trees. You don’t know what it’s doing. I felt like I had it going early, but I felt like I was happy with what I was doing. So, I’m happy to be just one shot off the lead and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
“It’s back to twosomes tomorrow, and hopefully I can get out and play decent. I feel like my game is in good shape. I feel like even when I miss a green, I can chip it up. Just kind of take care of my own business.”
Lowry has both Rory Sabbatini and Ian Poulter for company at minus-nine after the pair shot 68 and 67 respectively.
Lowry tees off alongside Sabbatini in the penultimate group at 18.55 Irish time.
Round 3 highlights below and Full Scoring HERE
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