Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry birdied two of their final three holes at the 7th and 8th after firing two earlier birdies and two bogeys for a 70 in Foursomes to retain a share of the lead at 13-under after Lowry experienced some putting issues earlier in their round at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
“I had missed a few [putts] around the turn,” said Lowry. “I missed a pretty short one on 18 and then another one on the second. I started to get a little bit into myself, but to roll that one in [at the 4th] was nice, and to play the last few holes the way we did was really nice too.
“I think a bit of a lesson there for myself to kind of keep going and just keep trying and keep plugging away. We did that today, and I’m pretty happy how we finished.”
“As Shane said,” added McIlroy, “after those [misses] it’s easy to sort of get hard on yourself, and I was just trying to keep him as positive as possible and just remind him that I’m here and I’m here to back him up in any way that I can. So, yeah, just trying to keep him positive.
“Shane has got a wonderful short game, and it gives me confidence going for those greens whether it be the par-4s or the par-5s that if I get it anywhere up there around the green, I’m going to have a very good look for birdie after he hits his.”
Aaron Rai and David Lipsky hold their first career 36-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour after carding a 70 featuring four birdies and two bogeys.
Davis Thompson and Andrew Novak made four birdies and one bogey for a 69 and a share of the lead while Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard made four birdies and two bogeys for a 70 to reach the top of the leaderboard.
Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are among a group of six teams tied in fifth place at 12-under after a bogey at the final hole.
Teams will play Four-Ball in the third round, and Foursomes (alternate shot) in the final round.
