Lowry makes slow but steady start in Houston
Shane Lowry is playing his final event before the Masters in Houston this week.
Shane Lowry bounced off to watch Ireland’s World Cup play-off clash with a spring in his step when he birdied the last to open with a one-under 69 in the Texas Children's Houston Open.
The Offaly man got an early tee time at Memorial Park, and while he got little going early in his round, he improved as it progressed before rapping in a 23-footer for a closing birdie at the 153-yard ninth.
It’s Lowry’s last PGA TOUR start before the Masters and playing four rounds will be key after he followed the body blow of his late collapse from a winning position in the Cognizant Classic with back-to-back missed cuts in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players.
He made hard work of it on his front nine, hitting just three greens in regulation as he followed a chip-in birdie at the 12th with a soft bogey from the middle of the fairway at the 13th.
Denied on the greens, he slipped to one-over when he bunkered his tee shot at the short second and failed to get up and down.
But after shaving the hole with an eagle chance at the third and tapping in for birdie, he hit his last seven greens in regulation for no reward before watching that birdie putt disappear at the ninth.
His 69 left him six shots behind England’s Paul Waring, who shot a blistering bogey-free 63 to lead by a shot from Gary Woodland.
“I am coming off a few missed cuts, but I felt like my golf game was in a good spot,” Waring said. “Weirdly, I was getting a little bit down about myself, thinking, what do I need to do to kind of get in the mix?
“But today it was really solid. And I think someone said that I holed 160 foot of putts. So obviously that was a real strength today.”
Lowry was tied for 59th by day’s end, just inside the cut line, with Séamus Power joint 31st after making four birdies and two bogeys in a two-under 68.
On the DP World Tour, star attraction Ashkay Bhatia fought back from shooting 44 on his opening nine to open with a five-over 77 in the Hero Indian Open at the punishing DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi.
The venue, which was once described by England’s Eddie Pepperell as “a course designed by Satan”, knocked the world number 22 for six as he drove out of bounds and started with a double-bogey six at the 10th.
The recent winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational then followed a birdie at the 11th with bogeys at the 13th and 14th, a triple-bogey eight at the 15th and a double-bogey seven at the 18th to turn in eight-over before coming home in three-under 33.
“Yeah, glad I didn't shoot 80,” said the Californian, who ended the day 11 shots behind clubhouse leader Freddy Schott of Germany.
"Yeah, tough day. Hit the wrong ball, which was very unfortunate, just to not play good on the first nine.
“And then, yeah, shooting three under on my back side is great. Look, this golf course is hard, so if I can just try and get it back to even par, I think it'll be nice to come back for me. I'll never give up. And that's kind of the goal.”
Schott carded a six-under-par 66 to lead by one stroke from defending champion Eugenio Chacarra of Spain before play was suspended due to darkness.
“I’m very pleased, I was really solid out there today and it was pretty much a flawless round of golf,” said Schott, who won his maiden title at last month's Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.
“Two drops, but at least those were the most difficult holes, so it’s alright.
“I guess it might be the hardest course this year. Your game has to be so good overall, there’s not a thing which can leak.”
In the LPGA’s Ford Championship in Arizona, Leona Maguire was tied for 34th, eight shots behind Lydia Ko after opening with a four-under 68.
Lauren Walsh was 92nd after a 71
Meanwhile, Ryder Cup Europe and the PGA of America have signed a multi-year deal with Dublin-based packaging company Smurfit Westrock to become a Worldwide Partner of the Ryder Cup.
Smurfit Westrock has a long association with the Ryder Cup, with its then Chairman and CEO, Dr Michael Smurfit, playing a pivotal role in bringing the 2006 Ryder Cup to The K Club, which hosted 13 editions of the European Open between 1995 and 2007.
As part of its broader Ryder Cup engagement, Smurfit Westrock is renewing its association with winning 2014 Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, who was the touring professional at The K Club in the early 2000s and a three-time Ryder Cup winner as a player.
