Shane Lowry has made a solid start to the Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour after a two-under-par 68 left him five shots behind clubhouse leader Eric Cole.
Lowry, playing in his last PGA Tour event on US soil before he prepares for the Open Championship playing links courses in Ireland, bogeyed his second hole but took advantage of the two par 5s on TPC River Highlands’ par 70 layout and added a birdie at the short par 4 16th. The Offaly man had a good day off the tee, hitting 13 out of 14 fairways.
Lowry has former caddie Dermot Byrne on the bag this week after splitting with Darren Reynolds, who has been his caddie since 2023. Byrne caddied for Lowry for the first 10 years of his career.
The American golfer Cole is the early leader on seven under, with Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick among four players to shoot six-under 64s.
RM Block
Meanwhile, in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the third Major of the year, Lauren Walsh shot an opening round of one-over 73 as she bounced back from a disappointing start with three bogeys in her first five holes. Walsh birdied the 16th and 18th holes to give herself a chance to make the cut from the middle of the pack.
The early clubhouse leader is South Korea’s Ina Yoon, who shot a stunning nine-under-par 63 at Hazeltine. World number one Nelly Korda is two under. Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow are also in the field, but are late starters.
Elsewhere, Ryder Cup stats guru Edoardo Molinari showed he could still play to a high level by breaking the course record in the opening round of the Italian Open on the DP World Tour.
The Italian shot an eight-under-par 63 at Circolo Golf Torino to lead by one over LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann on home soil. Tom McKibbin also made a good start in Italy and is five off the lead on three under.
