The actions spoke louder than any words. When Shane Lowry rolled in an 18-footer from the fringe of the 18th green for his sixth birdie of the second round, a 67 for a midway total of eight-under-par 136 to assume the 36-holes lead in the $20 million Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Country Club in Orlando, his immediate reaction was to punch the air and to accept the clap on his back from caddie Darren Reynolds.
Then, he shook hands with Rory McIlroy. Lowry’s superb round at Arnie’s Place may have moved him into the lead, but McIlroy’s second successive 70 for 140 meant the Northern Irishman, too, entered the weekend in contention, if cast in the role of one of Lowry’s pursuers.
Lowry, with a new Srixon driver in his bag for this fourth signature event of the PGA Tour season, has made a great start to this Ryder Cup year and his form over the opening two rounds at Bay Hill – where he finished third behind Scottie Scheffler last year – again reaffirmed just how comfortable in his own skin he is around this piece of Florida real estate.
The key? “I think it’s my iron play is good, and conservative when it needs to be. You need that around places like this. I just like the grind of pars are good, you know. There’s a lot of weeks out here where you get where you shoot level par for nine holes and you feel like you’re beating your head against the wall.
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“Whereas, weeks like this, level par after nine you’re actually doing okay, you’re a little run away from having a lovely day. I like the type of golf where any time you break 70 you feel like you’ve had a good day,” said Lowry, whose birdies came at the second, third, seventh, 10th, 13th and 18th, with his only blemish coming on the par-5 16th where he pushed his drive down the right behind trees.
Playing with McIlroy for a second day was, Lowry, reckoned, good for him: “Look, you’re out there with one of the best golfers in the world, with big crowds, great golf course, lovely weather, what’s not to like? It’s easy to get up for something like that.
“I feel like I thrive in those situations. And, yeah, I enjoyed my couple of days and I feel like we did play off each other a little bit. I know he probably feels like he could be better, but he’s still in a great position going into the weekend.”
Lowry assumed the clubhouse lead two shots clear of first-round leader Wyndham Clark, with McIlroy lurking four shots behind.
Of his mindset headed into the weekend, Lowry remarked: “It’s about putting the ball in play, just fairways and greens are key. If you can hit a load of greens out here, and then you’re probably going to end up with four or five par putts that you need to hole at the right time, and if you can do that you can win the tournament.”
