Troon, Scotland. When Shane Lowry captured the Claret Jug in 2019 at Royal Portrush home country fans were delirious given how a native-born Irishman captured golf’s oldest major championship played on home soil for the first time.
That improbable Hollywood ending provided a clear understanding of what it takes to play top tier links courses.
If Portrush was part one – then part two could well be the follow-up at Royal Troon for Lowry.
The 37-year-old has the 36-hole lead at the 152nd Open Championship and his play for the first two rounds (66-69) gives him a two-shot lead over two Englishmen – Justin Rose and Daniel Brown. A host of talented pursuers is nearby with the likes of Scheffler and Xander Schauffele in hot pursuit.
Lowry’s opening rounds have displayed a resolute effort – not permitting temporary setbacks – most notably the 11th during Friday’s round – to derail his progress.
“I’m pretty happy with the day. To be leading this tournament after two days, it’s why you come here, it’s why we’re here.
“Yeah, I’ll sit back and watch a bit of golf in the afternoon and see where it leaves me come the end of the day, and get out there tomorrow. The job tomorrow as well is to try to put myself in a position to win this tournament on Sunday, and that’s what I’ll try and do.”
The Irishman’s play has been helped by a stelar putting display. This was especially so during the first round when his ball striking was wanting on several occasions.
Momentum is such a critical element in any major championship and when Lowry approached the difficult par-4 11th it appeared his surge was in fine shape after a tee shot that found the right rough but still left him with a playable shot for his approach.
During his swing, Lowry was distracted by a nearby cameraman’s movement and promptly pulled his approach left to avoid the nearby out-of-bounds to the right of the 11th green.
His approach then found a gorse bush to the left of the green.
Lowry opted to play a provisional ball fearing his approach was lost. That shot finished roughly 15 feet from the hole.
During the walk to the area – Lowry recounted what transpired.
“The referee asked me going down, did I want to find my first one, and I said no. So, I assumed that was okay. Then we get down there, and somebody had found it. So apparently we have to find it then, or you have to go and identify it, which I thought, if you declared it lost before it was found, that you didn’t, you didn’t have to go and identify it.
“I felt like through that whole process of that 20 minutes, it was whatever it was, of taking the drop, seeing where I could drop, and I felt like I was very calm and composed and really knew that I was doing the right thing, and I felt like Darren did a great job too just kind of — he kept telling me, we have loads of time. We don’t need to rush this. We just need to do the right thing here.
“To be honest, I was happy enough leaving there with a 6. It was not like — it wasn’t a disaster. I was still leading the tournament.”
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| Editor’s note: A ball cannot be declared lost by a player. If the ball is not found or identified within 3 minutes from the time the player and his caddie have begun the search, then the ball is deemed lost.
Once a ball is believed to have been Lowry’s it is incumbent on the player to go forward and identify it. If that ball happens to be the player’s, then the player must continue play with it. If the original ball is lost – then the provisional ball Lowry played would have been the ball he would be obligated to continue with playing. In Lowry’s case the provisional ball he played would no longer continue to be played. Lowry declared his original ball, found within the gorse bush with his approach to be unplayable and he proceeded with the options the rule provides. In this specific case taking two club lengths and then dropping his ball there. |
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Lowry settled himself with a superb drive and quality 4-iron approach at the demanding par-14 12th. The par there stabilized him for the balance of the round.
“I think the 12th hole for me was key. 12 was playing very difficult, straight into the wind. I hit driver, 4-iron there too, the best shots I’ve hit all week, to about 30 feet and made par there. From then on, I felt like down out of the left coming in, it was playing quite difficult, but I felt like you could give yourself chances on the way in, and that’s what I did.”
Over the final six holes Lowry stabilized and concluded the round with two birdies on the final trio of holes. The final birdie at the 18th was saluted by Lowry fist pumping the air.
The task for Lowry is now what lies ahead.
“Yeah, you just go out, and for me, it’s just about going out and playing my own game, shooting the best score I can, and then seeing where it leaves me at the end of the day. Try not to worry about what other people are doing and just trying to take care of your own personal stuff.”
Lowry won at Portrush after scoring in the 60s for the first two rounds. He has duplicated that at Troon.
Being a front-runner and closing out tournaments with a win is no easy proposition and Lowry admitted as much.
“I put myself there in a few big tournaments, and I’ve managed to knock them off. So, I’ve done it a few times. I don’t know. It’s hard to win tournaments. We’ll see. I’ll tell you Sunday evening.”
A second major win for Lowry would clearly validate his initial win five years ago. And should he win at Troon – Lowry will have the pleasure of returning to Royal Portrush as host site for the ’25 Open Championship.
But first things first. Lowry is now the man to be chased and the Irishman relishes what the final two rounds will be about.
“Yeah, I don’t know, like I think if I give myself a chance on Sunday, I know I can do it. That’s as good a position to be in as any.”
Related: Daniel who?
Selected tee times
0955 – Harris English, Robert MacIntyre
1445 – Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson
1505 – Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele
1525 – Scottie Scheffler, Dean Burmester
1535 – Billy Horschel, Justin Rose
1545 – Daniel Brown, Shane Lowry
Weather forecast
Remaining overcast, very likely staying dry, although with a slight chance for some rain around midday. Further rain likely in mid-afternoon, turning persistent and heavier from late afternoon. Wind lighter than Friday with gusts up to 15mph.
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