Lowry in pole position as DeChambeau defends himself from Fitzpatrick jibes
Shane Lowry. Picture: Getty Images
Shane Lowry hopes he can give Irish sports fans something to cheer about after Thursday's European Championship penalty shootout exit by claiming the $7 million BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Armed with an old two-ball putter he rescued from a closet on Monday night, the Open champion followed his opening 67 with a bogey-free, seven-under 65 to share the halfway lead with England's Matthew Fitzpatrick on 12-under par.
"When you play well and shoot a good score on Thursday, it's nice to have a good turnaround," Lowry said as Fitzpatrick spun his approach to his final hole (the eighth) back into the water and double-bogeyed for his 65, leaving them one shot clear of Tyrrell Hatton, who shot 67.
"Go back, have your quick bit of dinner, get to bed, watch Ireland lose, and get out this morning and do the best you can.
"After a disappointing night last night, hopefully, I can give everyone in Ireland something to cheer about."
It was another impressive ball-striking round from the Offaly man, who has struggled to turn some good play in decent in results in recent months due to some indifferent form on the greens.
But he looks ready now to go one better than his runner-up finish to Rory McIlroy in 2014 after shooting his seventh round of 67 or better on the West Course over the past ten years - more than anyone else in that span.
"I just always have [loved the course]," Lowry said after topping the putting statistics through the first two rounds. "I came here in 2010 first when Ernie [Els] did the redo first, and I remember everybody moaning that year. I just love coming back.”
After starting at the ninth, Lowry birdied the 12th and 13th, then followed a birdie at the par-five 17th by holing in a 40 footer for another at the 18th.
He then picked up another birdie four at the fourth, rolled in a six-footer for a two at the sixth and fired his approach to just three feet at the seventh to complete another impressive day's work.
Pleased to have made the last-minute decision to make the trip after seven missed cuts and just two top-10s from 18 starts this year, Lowry felt his game was far better than his results suggested.
"I've been struggling on the greens," Lowry confessed. "It's amazing when you hole a few putts, and I've probably driven it a little better this week than I have done all year.
"When you put up a good score in the first round, and you get off to a good start in the second round like I did, it frees you up and allows you to play some good golf."
Pádraig Harrington eagled the fourth and birdied the fifth but came home in two-over for a 71 that left him a shot inside the cut mark on one-under alongside Graeme McDowell, who birdied the 17th and 18th for a 70.
Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, hopes the R&A and USGA do something to combat the bomb-and-gouge tactics of US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and others.
Perhaps he was irritated after taking six at his final hole, the eighth, where his approach came back into the water when a birdie would have seen him equal the course record.
“I'm going to be biased because I'm not quite the longest, but Winged Foot, fair play to him, he won and shot 6-under, but Winged Foot, the fairways were tight as hell, and I drove it brilliantly, and I actually played pretty well, and I'm miles behind. He's in the rough and miles up and he's just hitting wedges everywhere. It just makes a bit of a mockery of it I think,” said Fitzpatrick, who hit 43 % of fairways there, the same amount as DeChambeau, but missed the cut by a shot.
Referring to DeChambeau’s opening 62 in the Shriners Hospital for Children Open, he added: "I just looked at Shot Tracker yesterday, some of the places he hit it, and he's cutting corners — when he's on, there's no point, is there. There's no point. It doesn't matter if I play my best, he's going to be 50 yards in front of me off the tee, and you know, the only thing I can compete with him is putting, and that's just ridiculous.
“He's in the rough and miles up and he's just hitting wedges everywhere,” Fitzpatrick said. “It just makes a bit of a mockery of it I think. He's just taking the skill out of it in my opinion.”
He hopes the USGA and R&A do something to rein DeChambeau and his disciples in, he added.
There were 6,505 tee shots on the par-4 7th hole from 2003 to 2019.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 10, 2020
Not a single ball hit the green.
This week, @B_DeChambeau has hit the green in both rounds. pic.twitter.com/2fapclApyd
“I really hope they do. My opinion, it's not a skill to hit the ball a long way in my opinion. I could put on 40 pounds. I could go and see a biomechanist, and I could gain 40 yards; that's actually a fact. I could put another two inches on my driver. I could gain that."
“But the skill in my opinion is to hit the ball straight. That's the skill. He's just taking the skill out of it in my opinion. I'm sure lots will disagree. It's just daft.”:
That DeChambau hit the ball just as straight as Fitzpatrick at Winged Foot, for four rounds, would appear to negate his argument.
The American was also ranked 17th for driving accuracy and first for distance in Las Vegas, where he made two eagles in a 67 to lie just one stroke behind a quintet of leaders at TPC Summerlin. Scores
Asked about Fitzpatrick’s comments, he said: “I appreciate that comment. It's a compliment to me honestly. A year ago I wasn't hitting in anywhere near as far as I am today. It took a lot of work, a lot of hours to work through the night to figure out a lot of this stuff.
“I would say it actually takes more skill to do what I'm doing, and albeit I may have -- my fairway percentages are a little bit down, I'm hitting it straighter than what I was last year with the distances that I was hitting back then.
“So I actually appreciate those comments. I think he's looking out for certain set of players, and I appreciate that. My whole goal is to play the best golf I possibly can, and this game has given me the opportunity showcase something pretty special.
“I feel like I've started to go down a path that's allowed me to have an advantage over everyone, and I think that is a skillset when you look at it. For me out there today, I was still able to hit a lot of fairways at 360 yards. That's tough to do with drivers.
“If anything, it's more difficult to hit more fairways the way I'm doing it with the rules the way it is today. It's more built for players like Matthew Fitzpatrick and his distances and players like that.
“So from my perspective, I think it takes a little bit more skill to do what I'm doing, and that's why there are only a few people doing it out here.
“You know, I actually appreciate it, because I would love to have a conversation with him about it and say, Hey, man, I would love to help out. Why couldn't you do it, too? You see Rory and DJ doing the same thing, too. They're seeing that distinct advantage, and I feel like it's great are for the game of golf.
“I don't think it takes less skill. I'm still putting it great; still wedging it mediocre, the same, maybe a little bit better. It shows out here that I'm still hitting fairways.
“Yeah, I do hit a couple errant shots like on 9 today, but I do hit a lot of fairways, I still hit great irons, and I make a lot putts. I still think there is a lot of the skill in that.”
The US Open champion drove the par-four seventh for the second day running, hitting a 373-yard drive to 26 feet before holing the eagle putt.
He drove into a plant in the scrub at the ninth but still muscled the ball onto the green, then followed a bogey at the 10th with a birdie at the 15th before making an eagle at the par-five 16th, where he hit a 367-yard drive and a 152-yard approach to 10 feet.
Scotland's Martin Laird shot a second-round 63 and Patrick Cantlay a 65 to share the halfway lead with Brian Harman (63), Austin Cook (65) and Peter Malnati (62) on 14-under.
