“I've had a few chances to win this tournament; hopefully I can convert it tomorrow” - Lowry fires 63 to share Cognizant Classic lead
Shane Lowry of Ireland lines up a putt on the No. 10 green during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 13, 2025.
Shane Lowry gave himself a chance to end his near three-and-a-half year victory drought when he fired a sensational eight-under 63 to grab a share of the lead heading into the final round of the Cognizant Classic.
Forced to settle for second behind Sepp Straka in 2022 and a top-five finisher in 2023 and 2024 before settling for 11th last year, he made eight birdies in a career-low round at PGA National to share the lead with overnight leader Austin Smotherman (69) on 13 under, one clear of Colombia’s Nico Echavarria (66) and American Taylor Moore (67).
Lowry birdied the first, fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth to turn in a sensational five-under 30 before racing home in 33 thanks to further birdies at the 10th, 17th and 18th.
He had just 24 putts and leads the field for strokes gained with his approach play over the first three days.
“Everything went pretty well, especially early on,” Lowry said. “I felt like I hit the ball in the fairway a lot yesterday, and I missed a few fairways early today, but I holed a few nice putts at the start.
“And then I started hitting the ball really well and giving myself lots of chances, and converted a few, and I felt like it was just a really nice all-around. And to birdie the last two was kind of the icing on the cake.”
Lowry was unlucky to lose out to Straka in 2022 when a rainstorm broke as he played the last, and he's hoping for some good luck this time.
“Yeah, like, you get cool breaks and bad breaks, and that was a bad break,” he said. “But yeah, we'll see, hopefully none of that tomorrow.
“It’s not necessarily easy to lead around this golf course. There are a lot of very difficult shots. So yeah, I'm up there where I want to be.
“I've had a few chances to win this tournament, and hopefully I can convert it tomorrow.”
If it was a great day at the office for Lowry, it was a forgettable one for Seamus Power.
The West Waterford man was tied 13th overnight after carding an excellent 67 in round two.
But he was on the back footer after poor tee shots led to back-to-back bogeys at the first and second.
He played the remaining 16 holes in level par but made three birdies and three bogeys to post a two-over 73 that left him tied for 51st on two under.
