Lowry hits a purplepatch

A red hot putter combined with a delightful touch around the greens has Shane Lowry sitting in a share of 6th place in the €3 million Andalucia Masters at Valderrama.

The 2009 winner of the Irish Open while still an amateur stands one over par after rounds of 72 and 71, the same as Peter Lawrie who recovered well from bogeys at each of the first three holes to get round in 72. They are five behind Scotland’s Richie Ramsay who retains his lead at the top of the leader board having added a 72 to Thursday’s admirable 65.

Many of the players struggled with the lightning fast putting surfaces which ran at 12. 5 on the stimpmetre. The 36 hole cut mark soared to seven over par, by three the highest on the European Tour this year even though only the top 50 instead of the usual 65.