Lowry and McIlroy chasing; Seamus battling; Leona falling; Sam graduating
Shane Lowry shot in the sixties for the eleventh time in a row but knows he can afford no “stupid errors” if he’s to cap 2025 with victory in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Winning an individual title for the first time since the 2022 BMW PGA would be the “icing on the cake” for Lowry after the joy of Europe’s Ryder Cup win.
But he must go low over the weekend after a bogey-free 67 left him tied for second on nine under with Rory McIlroy, Daniel Hillier and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, three shots behind big-hitting Nicolai Højgaard.
After shooting 18 under to finish third in the DP World India Championship two weeks ago, Lowry was disappointed to end up joint 12th in last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship despite shooting 19 under par.
He made two eagles and 23 birdies there, but six bogeys and a double-bogey left him six shots out of a playoff.
Hojgaard, who won the season-ending event two years ago, has the length to overpower Jumeirah’s Earth Course, as he showed in a second-round 65.
And with course specialist McIlroy grinding out a 69 with his B-game to join him in second, Lowry is aware that keeping his bogey count low is going to be key for him this week.
“I think I made a few stupid errors, to be honest, last week,” Lowry said. “I'm not sure whether it's a mental thing, or just being a little bit better where I miss my second shots, where I get out of trouble. I don't know.”
This week, he’s dropped just one shot and he feels good about his chances.
“Yeah, this week, I've been good,” Lowry said. “I've only made one bogey in two days, which is nice.
“I was in position on 14 and 18 to make birdies. It would have been nice to make at least one of them, but I'm in a nice position going into the weekend. I'm pretty happy.”
Outscoring McIlroy over the weekend won’t be easy, unless the Holywood star repeats yesterday’s waywardness.
“I had to battle a little more today than I did yesterday,” said McIlroy, who remained patient and cancelled out three bogeys with six birdies. “I missed a couple more fairways today. And when I did miss the fairways, I got some really bad lies, like the worst lies I've seen this week.
“But I felt like I showed my scoring skills today, and battled well and stayed patient, and got the ball up-and-down when I needed to.
“Overall, to shoot 69, I'm pretty pleased considering some of the spots that I found myself.”
Catching Hojgaard will be no joke as the Dane is 46 under for his last 10 rounds at the Earth Course.
“He's one of the longest hitters in the game, not just in Europe, but in the game,” Paul McGinley said on Sky.
Going low is imperative now for 2021 champion Séamus Power, who trailed Canada’s Adam Hadwin by six strokes heading into the weekend at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
Power is outside the top 100 in the FedExCup Fall standings, and while he still has next week’s final-counting RSM Classic to notch the top finish he needs to keep full playing privileges next year, a three-under 68 left him playing catch-up.
Like Power, Hadwin needs a second-place finish to break into the top 100, and a five-under 66 gave him a one-shot lead over Philip Chandler and Braden Thornberry on 11-under.
At The Annika on the LPGA Tour in Florida, Leona Maguire failed to make a birdie in a two-over 72 and slipped to 32nd on one-under, eight shots behind leaders Linn Grant and Grace Kim.
At the Final Stage of the Alps Tour Qualifying School in Rome, Portumna’s Sam Murphy finished tied for third on eight-under par to earn his card.
The Galway amateur, who is expected to turn professional, shot a three-over 75 in the fog-delayed final round at Golf Nazionale to finish two shots behind France’s Alexis Leray on eight under.
By finishing in the top 35 and ties, Murphy earned Category 6 membership while fellow amateurs Stephen Grant (joint 64th) and Cathal MacCanna (joint 68th) earned Category 8 and 9 cards, respectively.
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington will tee it up in the Hilary Links’ Golf Society’s winter event at The Island next Tuesday.
The three-time major champion and society President joins Peter Lawrie, Max Kennedy, Niall Kearney, Ronan Mullarney, Raymond Burns, Jody Fanagan, Conor O’Rourke, Colm Campbell and The Island’s Philip Walton and Paul McBride in a top-class field.
Enquiries on limited tee-times should be made to hilarylinksgs@gmail.com.
