Shane Lowry cements his lead after 'insane' day at the Irish Open
Shane Lowry shares a joke with a supporter. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
The arrival of the US president pulled focus from the actual golf on Saturday before Shane Lowry showed his determination to stay centre stage on what he described as an “insane” day at the Amgen Irish Open.
The overnight tournament leader after a superb 62 on Friday, Lowry was only on the 2nd hole when Donald Trump and entourage landed at his eponymous property in West Clare, but the sideshow didn’t divert the 2019 Open champion from the job at hand.
Lowry finished with a five-under 65 that leaves him on 16-under par and four shots clear at the top of the leaderboard. Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen is nearest to him after a fine 66 spoiled slightly by a needless bogey at the last.
Even better for Lowry is the separation he can now see between Olesen and Joaquin Niemann (nine-under) in third and the rest of the field on down after Haotong Li, Tom McKibbin, Patrick Reed and Rasmus Hojgaard all threatened but then fell away.
The Irishman showed sheer grit and plenty of class through a back nine where he needed just nine putts. It was scrambling at a world-class level, so much so that he actually completed that inward stretch in three-under par.
“I feel good. If I can't feel good now, I never will. We got a nice lead going into tomorrow. It's hopefully going to be a great day. I feel great. I feel like I've played really good golf this week, and when I got out of position today my putter saved me.”
Trump’s arrival had loomed over the premises the entire morning until Air Force One flew over the course shortly before 2pm. It eventually landed at Shannon Airport, where the delegation boarded Marine One and headed to his property.
The organisational procedure for that arrival saw Lowry briefly delayed on the second hole. He eventually hit his approach as the helicopter blades howled through the air, before climbing up a sand dune to get a look at the operation.
Trump had no sooner landed than he was spotted in the corporate hospitality viewing platform adjacent to the 18th green, and he is expected to take in more of the play on Sunday when Lowry will hope to replicate his Irish Open title success of 2009.
Lowry was happy with how he dealt with all that fuss and distraction.
“I think I was ready for any distractions that that brought. Like we talked about a lot. I thought it might happen while I was on the putting green before I teed off, and that wouldn't have been ideal. So I was happy to get my tee shot away and then the first [hole] and get my round off to a good start.
“And then when that all happened, it was fine. I just got on it. I feel like I've been around long enough to deal with stuff like that. So yeah, it was a pretty insane day, and I'm just happy where I'm sitting in this tournament.”
Lowry led by three at the halfway point in this tournament but made the turn tied for the lead with Olesen. One of the day’s big moments came on the 8th when Olesen and Li claimed eagles and Lowry responded with a birdie.
Another key chapter came on 17 when Lowry blew his drive right onto a dune, played his recovery to the fairway and then made par while Olesen let slip a great chance to land his first birdie of the back nine after seven straight pars.
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The 18th brought another skewed tee shot from the leader, this one to the left, and Lowry yet again produced a putt save from a missable distance while Olesen somehow three-putted after doing everything right tee to green.
The stat for a likely Lowry win was over 80% as he took his second shot at the last hole in declining light and gathering chill. It’s even greater now but he let tournaments slip through his fingers at the start of this year and still has work to do.
“I obviously want to try and enjoy it as much as I can, but there's only way one way I'm going to enjoy tomorrow, and we all know what that is. So we'll see how that goes… I'm so excited to go tomorrow and hopefully give myself a chance to win.”
Elsewhere, defending champion Rory McIlroy endured a nightmare front nine with two double-bogeys and one bogey.
He rolled a 43-footer for eagle to within inches on the fourth but couldn’t build on that momentum. He made the turn having scored 40.
The back nine was steadier but McIlroy still only managed it in level par, and it all left him one-over for the week so far.
McKibbin finished on seven-under after a round of two-under par 68. Liam Nolan also shot a 68 that leaves him on two-under for the tournament.
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