CHARLIE MULQUEEN: Irish top four draw little comfort in Arizona

Excuses abounded to try and explain away the failure of the Irish golfers in the Accenture World Match Play Championship but none were convincing.

We heard that Rory McIlroy was “rusty” after his winter lay-off, that Pádraig Harrington would have been fine but for his putting, that Graeme McDowell tired as the week went on and that Shane Lowry is still finding his way at this level.

There is substance in the argument that Lowry, 25, has been consistently raising his game to rub shoulders with the game’s finest in Arizona and then defeated the world number one in the first round. However there is also a widespread belief that the Offaly man must lose weight and improve his fitness if he is to capitalise fully on his talents. He will be pleased, though, to have improved six places in the world rankings to 62nd and yesterday was trying for one of four places in a qualifier for this week’s Honda Classic at PGA National, West Palm Beach, Florida.