Lowry ready to duel McIlroy for Pebble Beach glory: “Let's hope one of us does the business”

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry played like men with three West of Irelands and two Claret Jugs on their CVs and fired best-of-the-day 65s in brutal conditions to head into the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am just a shot behind Ryder Cup teammate Sepp Straka.

European skipper Luke Donald would have enjoyed some satisfying viewing as McIlroy went bogey-free and Lowry reeled off an eagle and seven birdies to leave them tied for second on 15-under par.

They were poised to share the lead before Austrian Straka made four birdies in his last six holes to shoot 70 and lead by a shot on 16-under as he bids for back-to-back PGA Tour wins.

“We don't play in this weather that often anymore, but we did grow up in it,” McIlroy said after putting on a clinic of brilliant wind play and scrambling to card one of just three bogey-free rounds to set up an all-European final group with Straka and Lowry.

“I would say Shane's historically been a better bad-weather player than I have been, but it is cool to see both of us up there near the top of the leaderboard.”

Now Florida residents, McIlroy and Lowry insisted they don't enjoy bad weather golf but they went back to their roots after benign conditions for their first five holes turned foul and wind and rain made the exposed stretch from the sixth to the 10th a treacherous test.

“Yeah, it might suit me somewhat, but I don't enjoy it,” said Lowry, who started birdie-eagle-birdie in fine weather, then birdied the sixth and followed dropped shots at the seventh and ninth with four back-nine birdies. 

“You know, I live in Florida for a reason. I think my game is well-equipped to handle these conditions, and I go out there with no fear, and I know I just need to batten down the hatches and make pars when I can. 

“When you hit good shots, you need to take advantage and look, I did very well today. Any time I hit a good shot, I made a birdie, so it was a great day.”

While they won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans together last year, the Irish duo could not recall playing in the final group together.

“He beat me, I remember, at Wentworth in 2014; I finished second to him,” Lowry said. “We went down the back nine there and I got him back in 2022 around Wentworth as well. We haven't really gone head-to-head that much. He's obviously there a lot more than I am. I'm happy to be there tomorrow…. Yeah, let's hope one of us does the business.”

Lowry was thrilled with his day’s work and clearly relishes golf’s tougher tests.

But after acing the seventh in round one he wants to make a memorable week an unforgettable one.

“There's a few courses in the world that you would like to win on and this is definitely one of them,” he said.

Playing with a close friend in McIlroy and a Ryder Cup partner in Straka will make it a comfortable three-ball for Lowry, but he's keen to get down to business.

“I'm sure at times we'll have good fun, but when it gets down to the business end

of things, I'm sure we'll all be all business.”

McIlroy has matured as a golfer over the past decade and says he now relishes the creativity bad weather requires.

“I said to Harry going up six, let's just try to chip it around for the rest of the day,” said the Holywood star, who birdied the first, second, fifth and eighth before finishing with three more at the 15th, 16th and 18th.

“Taking a club more, two clubs more and just try to chip it in there, take spin off it, keep under the wind.

“I did that really well today. Depending on the conditions tomorrow, if I have to do it again, I feel pretty comfortable doing it.”

He insisted he's not getting over-excited about being in contention in February, given his focus on the majors.

“I keep reminding myself this week it's my second tournament of the year. It's great to be playing well at this point, but the main goal for me is to play well from April through to July. 

“Still trying to work on things and trying to get my game in the best possible shape for those months. But it's really cool to be in contention this early in the season.”

With six shots covering the top 14 players and world number one Scottie Scheffler lurking on 10-under, McIlroy will have a chance to enter major mode.

“One of the things I really -- I want to do this year is try to limit my mistakes and play bogey free,” he said. 

“Three of my last four rounds have been that way: last round in Dubai, first round here and now this round. 

“Just really try to limit the mistakes and play smart golf and be a little more like Scottie Scheffler basically.”

Meanwhile, Leona Maguire carded a level par 72 in the third round of the LPGA’s season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Florida.

She heads into the final round tied for eighth on six-under at Lake Nona, nine strokes behind A Lim Kim.

The Korean shot 67 to lead by three shots on 15-under from Linn Grant (67) and by four from Lydia Ko (65) and world number one Nelly Korda (67).