'I was very in control of my game': Lowry goes birdie-birdie-par finish to post opening 69 at Birkdale

'DECENT': Shane Lowry shoots an opening round 69. Pic: David Davies/PA Wire

Shane Lowry survived a back-nine wobble with a birdie-birdie-par finish to stay in touch with the leaders after 18 holes at The 154th Open but he will be hoping for a kinder wind when he resumes his campaign in Friday’s second round.

The 2019 champion and hero of Royal Portrush opened with a one-under-par 69 at Royal Birkdale on Thursday, one of the better scores recorded by the later first-round starters who had to contend with a change of direction in the wind at the Southport links.

After a frustrating season in which he let slip winning opportunities in Dubai and Florida at the outset and has struggled to contend in the American majors, the Irishman began in his opening round at The Open in confident style, sinking a 35-foot putt for birdie at the par-four third and getting up and down at the long par-three fourth with a superb chipped approach to inside two feet.

A bogey at the par-four sixth was redeemed with birdie at nine as Lowry returned to one under at the turn and a 142-yard approach to inside five feet gave another look at birdie at the par-four 10th, only for a missed birdie putt. There was no mistake at the far-three 12th with a birdie putt from 26 feet before his momentum was halted by three bogeys in succession.

It was a measure of Lowry’s composure that he rescued a potentially disastrous situation with back-to-back birdies on route to his one-under finish and he was satisfied with the outcome, four shots off the 18-hole lead held by American Jackson Suber.

“Score-wise, I'm pretty happy with that,” Lowry said. “I think the wind switch in the afternoon made the course play a little more difficult. So it was important I didn't get caught leaderboard watching and see what the leaders were doing.

“I feel like hopefully we're going to get that nice easterly wind that they had (Friday) morning. I felt like it was tricky. I felt like I was very in control of my game myself. 69 is a pretty decent start.”

Even more so considering those three bogeys in a row but Lowry was understandably pleased with his response to the mid-round crisis.

“Yeah, it was very satisfying, the finish I had. It was nice. I felt like I did a great job of staying in control of myself and my game and my thoughts. Yeah, I'm pretty happy and proud of myself the way I finished there.

“Honestly, I think the golf is there. I just needed a way for it to come out. I feel like I did a good job of just staying in my own lane today, trying to pick the spots I want to hit it off the tee and trying to pick the spots I want to hit it into the green and work from there.

“Obviously what happened on 13, 14, 15 is, it's like a sucker punch, but it's how you respond and stuff like that is what makes a tournament. I really, really feel like I played really well today, and I feel like I could have shot a great score, but I think one-under is still pretty good.” Lowry added: “We're here playing The Open Championship in great weather, perfect golf course. There's nowhere else you'd rather be.

“Obviously there are times it gets tough out there. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. I think when you're out there and it does get tough, I think you just need to dig in and grind away at it. Dermot (Byrne, his caddie) did a great job today, especially after what happened on 14, of keeping me kind of going and keeping me focused on the job at hand really, which is the next shot.

“Like I said, I'm pretty satisfied with the finish. Obviously I think it could have been a better score, but I'm pretty satisfied with that finish.” Lowry would not have been aware of American overnight leader Suber’s admission he had never played links golf before this week on his first trip to Europe when addressed the unique conditions Birkdale threw up on day one here.

“I pity the guys that have never played links golf coming here. You're hitting 4-irons off tees, and they're going over 300 yards. Sometimes it's hard to mentally and visually see that.

“I felt like I did a good job today of taking the bunkers out of play where I felt like I needed to, and I took the golf course on a little bit in response.” The important thing was for Lowry to stay within reach of Suber and the pack just behind him.

“You can always lose it on a Thursday,” he added. “You're not going to win it on a Thursday. That goes without saying.

“It's important to go out there and just try and shoot the best score you can. You want to be up there on the weekend. I think I did a good job today. Hopefully I can go out and play similar golf tomorrow and shoot a few better.”