Tommy Fleetwood takes lead in India thanks to Shane Lowry inspiration

Lowry said the Delhi course is "there for the taking if you hit good shots".

Fri, 17 Oct, 2025 - 14:26

Carl Markham

Tommy Fleetwood took inspiration from his Ryder Cup team-mate Shane Lowry to edge into a one-shot lead at the DP World India Championship in Delhi.

The Englishman emulated his playing partner’s opening-round 64 after getting off to a fast start on day two with five of his eight birdies in his first nine holes.

Fleetwood was able to keep a bogey off his card as he finished 12 under, one ahead of Lowry who had four birdies and a bogey in a 69 which kept him just a stroke behind.

Fellow former Open champion Brian Harman joined him in joint second place after a seven-under 65.

“I feel like if I’m playing with Shane for the next two days, I’ll be doing something right probably,” said Fleetwood, who credited a post-round range session after his opening 68 for the improvement.

“I played better than yesterday. I wasn’t happy with how I hit it towards the end yesterday so I hit some balls afterwards and I felt like today the swing was in a better place.

“I just felt like I wanted to hit some balls and do the drills I always do to try to get myself back to where I give myself a good chance of hitting good shots. The range closed at 5.30pm but I got enough time.”

Lowry said he is "happy" with his opening two rounds.

"The course is there for the taking if you hit good shots," said Lowry, "but if you hit it offline it's very, very tricky.

"I think you need to play this golf course the way you see it. There's a lot of holes where you're not hitting much off the tee and you're trying to get it in play and that's why I think it suits me.

"There's a lot of mid-irons out there which a strength of my game. Play to my strengths this week, and hopefully I can be dangerous this weekend."

World number two Rory McIlroy found himself six off the lead after a second-successive 69 which saw him rally from one over through 12 holes with four birdies coming home.

That put him in a share of 17th with Ryder Cup team-mate Viktor Hovland, who had a bogey-free 67.

McIlroy, on his first visit to India, was greeted by the country’s cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar as he walked off the 18th green.

The pair had met previously at the 2023 DP World Tour Championship and McIlroy told the home nation’s hero he was “looking forward to spending some time together”.