Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell in the groove for Irish Open
As Rory McIlroy also looked set to leave the $10.4m event regretting a string of elementary errors and some uninspired putting, McDowell birdied his last three holes for a 69 and a Top 10 finish on eight under as Lowry shot 71 despite a bogey at the last to finish just two shots further back.
Lowry was out in the final group on Saturday after rounds of 65 and 68 but after slipping to a 78 in Saturday’s mayhem when the PGA Tour got the set up badly wrong on the greens, he made a fast start to his final round but then stalled.
Lowry, McIlroy and McDowell began the day tied for 15th on five under par, nine strokes behind Jason Day, who had a four-stroke lead over Hideki Matsuyama, Ken Duke and Alex Cejka.
And it was Lowry who was the first to make a move alongside McDowell, reeling off three birdies in a row from the second to jump up the leaderboard.
The Clara man two-putted for his birdie at the second, holed a 24-footer at the par-three third and then hit a wedge to eight feet at the fourth and made the putt.
The Offaly star’s putting has been cold this season but it was his long game that let him down towards the end of the back nine as loose tee shots at the seventh and ninth led to expensive bogeys.
He then lost some mojo on the greens coming home, missing a five-footer for birdie at the par-five 11th and three and a half footer at the next.
Lowry will be gunning to make amends for a disappointing weekend at The K Club in this week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, confessing it is “a massive week for me.”
“I’d love nothing more than to go back home next week and win the Irish Open,” Lowry said after his first two rounds. “I am very much a confidence player, and rounds like I had on Thursday make me believe more and more that I am close to getting some big results.
“I need to kick-on and start winning and getting into contention. I want to be playing well this summer because there are so many big events and I feel like I have the game to contend in Majors and the biggest tournaments in the world. I also want to secure my place on the Irish Olympic team and put myself in contention for The Ryder Cup team.”
Lowry finished his day x shots behind clubhouse leader Justin Thomas who closed with a super 65 to set the clubhouse target at 10 under par.
McDowell turned in one over but birdied the 10th from three feet and the 12th from eight before following a bogey at the 15th with close range birdies at the 16th and 17th followed by another from eight feet at the 18th.
As for McIlroy, he birdied the par-five second, ninth and 11th but he missed a handful of birdie putts inside 10 feet at the sixth and eighth and then found water at the par-three 13th and did well to limit the damage to a bogey.
Another bogey at the 15th, where he overshot the green from the trees, left him seven behind overnight leader Day, who turned in two over to give the field a glimmer of hope only to birdied the 10th to lead by three on 13 under heading down the stretch. McIlroy birdied the last from four feet for a 70 to finish just inside the Top 10 on seven under but lamenting another disappointing week on the greens
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