Lowry hangs tough at blustery Hilton Head; five behind Cantlay
Shane Lowry. Picture: Jeff Haynes/USGA
SHANE Lowry battled his Masters fatigue and chiselled out a one-over 72 in tough conditions to his hope of ending his victory drought alive RBC Heritage in blustery Hilton Head.
The Clara man found just six fairways and hit only nine greens in regulation at tight and tricky Harbour Town Golf Links.
But made two birdies and two bogeys to turn in level par, then bounced back from bogeys at the 11th and 14th by rolling in a 12 footer for birdie at the 15th before closing with three sold two-putt pars.
It was hard work for the world number 30, who left himself putts of 30 feet, 50 feet and 54 feet on the last three greens before making putts of four feet, six feet and seven feet for pars.
He finished the day tied for 14th, five shots behind FedEx Cup holder Patrick Cantlay, who birdied his last four holes for a 67 and a two-shot lead over Robert Streb on nine-under.
“It was tough out there,” Lowry said. “It's so hard in the trees and the wind's swirling. It's quite a strong wind as well. So, yeah, I'm obviously a little bit disappointed at one-over, but I've not played my way out of the tournament. I'm in a nice position going into the weekend.
“Obviously Patrick made a few birdies at the end and pulled away a little bit, but a lot of golf left in this tournament.
“There's a few holes that are just an absolute disaster out there if you hit a bad shot. Like 14, you're standing there, and I'm a couple off the lead, and you're one swing away from having to think about the cut mark. It's so tight out there.”
Summing up the difficulty of the challenge, he added: “It was the gusts. It was just hard to get the ball pin high, and it was hard to get the ball close. The greens are very firm. And then they were a little crusty at the end.
“I found it hard anyway especially from distance with the putter. I kept leaving myself five, six-footers, but managed to clean up nicely.”
After finishing tied third in the Masters. Lowry remains in excellent form and just knows he has to stay patient as he looks to win for the first time since The Open in 2019.
“I think I just need to go out and do my thing. I think I've been playing good enough golf,” he said. “One-over is not great today, but it's not a disaster. Look, it was really, really tough out there
”I just need to kind of focus on keeping the ball in play and just taking my birdies when I get them because I think I'm playing the golf good enough to kind of maybe challenge at the weekend, but we'll see how that goes.“
It was also a tough day for Graeme McDowell but while the 2013 champion bogeyed four of his last six holes, a five-over 76 saw him make the weekend on level par.
As for Cantlay, he was thrilled to birdie his last four holes and open up a two-shot lead.
“Yeah, obviously that's a dream finish,” Cantlay said. “I finally rolled in some putts, and that was really nice to see going into the weekend.
“It was a tough day out there, and I figured any round under par or around even par would be a win for today. So finishing how I did puts me in a great spot for the weekend.”
