Friendship put aside as Irish duel

Lady Luck might have turned her back on the Irish in Tucson but Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell will be putting friendship aside in tomorrow’s first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

Lowry clashes with close pal and world number one McIlroy with McDowell drawn with triple major winner Pádraig Harrington.

To make matters worse, all four have been placed in the top half of the Bobby Jones bracket, meaning two of them could meet in Thursday’s third round.