Shane Lowry rolled in nine one-putts in a row for the first time in his career on the back nine as he kept the chasing pack at arms length to lead by four shots heading into the final round of the Amgen Irish Open.
Everything went right for Lowry who backed up his course record 62 with a joint low round of 65 to reach sixteen-under-par and extend his advantage over Jacob Skov Olesen in Doonbeg.
“I feel good if I can’t feel good now I never will! Nice lead going into tomorrow hopefully it will be a great day I feel great and played really good golf and when I got out of position today my putter saved me.
“Just hole the putts you are supposed to. I holed a couple of nice ones but a lot of them were in the six, seven feet range which is ones you think you should hole but if you miss it annoys you a little bit. It was nice to see the ball go in the middle of the hole. I’m normally the one watching other people do it, so why not me sometimes.”
While many on the Donald Trump owned links were distracted by his Air Force One plane and choppers, Lowry got straight to work with an opening birdies and added another on the fourth.
“I was ready for any distractions that it brought. I thought it might happen when I was on the putting green before I teed off which wouldn’t have been ideal. I was happy to get my tee shot away and get my round off to a good start. What happened after was fine I just got on with it.”
He dropped a shot on the 5th and was pegged back by Skov Olesen while Haotong Li was also hot on his heels before he failed to recover from a bizarre penalty on 10.
Both Olesen and Li eagled the par-5 8th but Lowry held firm with a huge momentum birdie putt in reply to edge one clear again. A big moment.
“That was big. It was a big putt. I felt my round was gone stale and a bit slow that got me going again, I hit a great shot into 9 and played 10 really well and I was off and running again. It was hard on the way in 11, 13, 16, 18 were all tough on the way in so I did a good job.”
From there, the Offaly man played some of the most beautiful ground hurling on the greens.
He rolled in a four foot birdie putt on the tenth, eight feet for par on 11, eight feet for birdie on 12, eight feet for par on 13, seven feet for par on 14, three feet for birdie on 15, six feet for par on 16, 13-feet for par on 17 and he fistpumped home a five-footer for a closing par after getting up and down from under the hospitality stand having snap-hooked his drive into a sandy area.
“I knew it was for my ninth one putt in a row, thought that was pretty cool, never done that before,” smiled the Clara man. “I wish they were all for birdies but they weren’t. The support I got, it’s late on a Saturday people are out there with kids that have to get home so I am chuffed that they stayed behind to support me.”
Lowry’s career has often been defined by four shot 54-hole leads. He led by that margin at the 2016 US Open only to fall to Dustin Johnson in Oakmont. He had his greatest day at the 2019 Open when he duly convened a four shot advantage for a famous home victory in Royal Portrush. A repeat of the latter would give him another crowning day in his career and end a victory drought that spans back to Wentworth in 2022.
“It would mean a lot. But for this evening I’m going to try to not think about it. I’m going to talk to people around me, have a nice evening, hopefully get some sleep and get out there tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the crowd gets on my side and I can put on a good show for them again and shoot a good score and do what I’m supposed to do.”
Joaquin Niemann is lingering in third on nine-under while Tom McKibbin lamented late bogeys on 15 and 18 having chipped in for birdie on 13, one of four red numbers on the card. The 23-year-old is fourth on seven-under after a 68 but trails Lowry by nine.
“Yeah, a great chip-in on 13. Obviously very tricky hole. And then bogey from the middle of the fairway on 15 was frustrating. And then obviously that putt on the last was very annoying. I definitely didn’t see it going that way or if it rolled didn’t roll great. So, yeah, a little bit bitter sweet.”
Galway’s Liam Nolan is on course for a sizeable pay day after a 68 saw him climb inside the top-30 on two-under.
Rory McIlroy carded two double bogeys in his first six holes to slump to a 74 for a share of 50th place on two-over
Leave a comment