Familiar tale for Shane Lowry as putter problems costly in Canada

The Offaly man started superbly to grab the Sunday afternoon lead.

Sun, 08 Jun, 2025 - 16:19

Joe Callaghan, Toronto

Shane Lowry will head south from Toronto to Pittsburgh Sunday night with a little more vindication that his game is in a good place for a challenge at the US Open — but fresh evidence that his putter must fire for him to contend in Oakmont.

The Offaly man started in scorching fashion to grab the Sunday afternoon lead at the RBC Canadian Open before inefficiency on the greens again reared its head, slowing momentum as he dropped back before a sloppy finish. A 67 would be his lot, leaving him on 13-under overall in a share for 12th as Sam Burns sizzled. Solid stuff but yet another could-have-been closing round.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner earlier in the week at TPC Toronto, Lowry lamented a tendency to start tournaments strong and finish with a whimper. It left a lingering negativity, which the data backed up. Lowry’s ranking in scoring average per round this year: R1 - 28th; R2 - 43rd; R3 - 107th; R4 - 106th.

“It’s just been bloody frustrating to not finish many weeks off very well,” he said. “Even when I think about my golf this year, my good weeks have been disappointments.”

Going back to treacherous Oakmont with similar frustrations felt like something to avoid. Lowry began Sunday just four shots off in an accordion of a leaderboard with 20-plus players in similar range and knew he needed to start fast. Boy did he.

After booming a 344-yard down the pipes of the opening par-five, he lasered a long iron in to four feet and rolled in the eagle. At the second it was a wedge that found the target for another kick-in birdie. On three his short-game brilliance brought him into a tie for the lead, a gorgeous chip and run from the fringe finding the hole. On the short fourth, his tee shot spun back to 10 feet and the putt was centre-cup all the way. In a flash, Lowry was outright leader.

The North Course was sending scores south from early Sunday so it was clear that with a dozen or more of the overnight leaders still to tee off, Lowry would have to keep the foot down. Unfortunately his putter, which had been nicely warm Saturday, was more like its vexing self. The season-long strokes gained stats tell the story: Lowry is fifth of 179 players on tour in total strokes gained, second in tee-to-green SG, third in approach SG but 96th in putting SG.

Just before the turn, the shortest club let him down badly. From 27 feet he three-putted for a crippling bogey that dropped him from the outright lead for the first time all day and into an eight-man tie. Within minutes matters behind put him two off Kevin Yu and one back of Matteo Manassero. The later brigade were making hay now too.

A brilliant punched wedge from 70 yards back on the drivable par-four 12th left him with a five-footer that he pushed two feet past. Another killer. He’d birdie 15 but immediately bogey 16 and 17. That was about that, Burns catching fire with a 62 to set the clubhouse target at 18-under In that same chat, Lowry said it would be foolish to approach Oakmont, where he finished second in the 2016 US Open, as a place that owes him favours. Fair enough. However Sunday was another sign that his putter surely owes him something.