Lowry digs deep to remain in the hunt at the Memorial

Shane Lowry didn’t have his A-game but he kept his patience and remained in the hunt for the Memorial Tournament in Ohio.

The world number 14 carded a level par 72 at a rain-sodden Muirfield Village to go into the weekend just four shots behind leaders Ben Griffin and Nick Taylor on three-under.

While he didn’t find as many fairways or greens as he did in an opening 69 and holed little with the blade, Lowry’s short game came to the rescue as morning rain made the course a gruelling test.

Playing partner Griffin also shot level par to share the lead with Canadian Taylor, who shot 68, on seven-under.

They are two strokes ahead of Akshay Bhatia, who shot 69, with defending champion Scottie Scheffler just three shots behind the leaders after a second successive 70.

“Solid day,” Scheffler said. “If I holed a few more putts, it probably would have been a little bit of a different score. 

“I felt like I was hitting my lines out there and did a good job of hitting a lot more fairways today. 

“Definitely felt better with my ball striking. So overall, two-under in these conditions was definitely not a bad score today.”

Lowry is tied for fifth, just a shot further back on three under, and after making ten of 12 cuts and racking up four top-ten finishes so far this season, he’s desperate for his first individual win on the PGA Tour since The Open in 2019.

The Offaly man missed birdie chances from between 10 and 12 feet for early birdies at the second, third and fourth before rolling in a seven-footer at the long fifth to get to four under.

But with the rain still falling early in his round, he paid for missing the ninth fairway with a bogey, then got up and down from sand for par at the 10th.

As the rain disappeared, he got back on the birdie trail at the par-five 11th, where he rolled in a nine-footer.

He was clearly struggling to stay patient after he dumped an eight-iron right into the water at the short 12th.

But he fired his third to 11 feet from the drop zone and made the bogey putt.

Even after berating himself loudly for slicing into the rough at the par-five 15th, he almost holed his third for eagle but couldn’t make the resulting ten-footer for birdie.

Despite that, he parred the last three holes to keep the leaders in his crosshairs.

Griffin is looking for his third win this season after following his victory with Andrew Novak in the Zurich Classic with another victory in last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.

“I always said, once I got my first win, it would free me up a ton,”

Griffin said. “My mindset’s never changed from before I've won to now. But I'd say I just feel so much more confident in myself and my ability that I've gotten it done.“