What a difference a day makes! After the snail’s pace antics of a first day which failed to beat the extended daylight time afforded to the western shores, a semblance of normality returned in the second round of the Amgen Irish Open at Trump International Doonbeg, which delivered a focus on shot-making and putts and all accompanied by joyous roars from the galleries as Shane Lowry navigated a route to the top of the halfway leaderboard.
Lowry’s brilliantly constructed course-record 62 in the second round for a 36-holes total of 11-under-par 129 moved the 39-year-old Offaly man to a position where all those beneath were cast in the role of pursuers.
On a sunny, calmer day, which offered the opportunity of low scores, with the course set up to facilitate a speedier pace of play, nobody took advantage of the conditions more than Lowry, who has resumed tournament play on this side of the Atlantic after a disappointing end to his PGA Tour season with the look of a man re-energised and refocused.
Lowry’s round of 62 featured nine birdies and a lone dropped shot, a three-putt bogey on the 13th. That was a rare blip with the putter in hand. Indeed, Lowry’s putting – his work with putting guru Stephen Sweeney evident in a crisp, smooth roll – reaped dividends time and time again as he had a hat-trick of birdies from the third, including a 22-footer on the fourth, and another hat-trick from the seventh, which started with a bomb from 25 feet. He turned in 30 strokes.
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The trip homeward wasn’t as fruitful, coming back in 32 strokes: Lowry successfully scrambled a par on the 10th but then had back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th before he suffered his lone bogey on the 13th, three-putting from 18 feet. He then rolled in a 20-footer for birdie on the 15th and parred home. A 62 it was, a new course record.
“I just did a really good job of being aggressive and being patient at the same time and taking my chances when I got them,” admitted Lowry.
Lowry’s scorecard recorded the lowest round of a day which had a plethora of scores in the 60s, with Haotong Li’s 63 moving the Chinese golfer to eight-under 132 while Danes Jacob Skov Olesen and Niklas Norgaard shot 64s to join him on that mark, three shots adrift of the leader.
“It’s night and day,” remarked Olesen, laughing, of the contrasting conditions between the two days. “It was very different. Now it’s blowing to where you feel like you can control almost all of your shots.”
If the forecast materialises, players in the third round will again face changing conditions with heavy rain and strong winds anticipated which may leave the tournament officials with little option than to have safe, easier pin placements towards the middle of greens rather than tempting fate by putting them on the edges.
Of the 10 Irish players who started the tournament, four survived the cut. Tom McKibbin remained very much in contention with a fine 67 for five-under 135 inside the top-10; Rory McIlroy, who couldn’t buy a putt for love nor money, posted another 69 for 138, and 26-year-old Galwayman Liam Nolan, making the most of his invite to make his DP World Tour debut, shot a 68 for 140.
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McKibbin’s improved putting since working with Stephen Sweeney has given him a renewed confidence not just on the greens but throughout his game. The 23-year-old Northern Irishman started birdie-birdie to get off to a flying start, ultimately signing for a 67 to improve his opening round by one shot.
“It’s exciting, to go into the weekend there or thereabouts will certainly be fun,” said McKibbin of chasing a second career win on the DP World Tour and also looking to improve his Race to Dubai position.
McIlroy’s putting was again his Achilles heel, after back-to-back 69s left him nine shots adrift of Lowry heading into the weekend and aware there is no quick fix.
“I just didn’t have it on the greens. I really struggled to read them. It’s hard whenever you struggle to read them, and then when you do get over the ball you’re trying to trust what you’re seeing,” he explained.
In this edition of the Irish Open like no other, a year before the centenary tournament will be celebrated at The K Club, Lowry – who has shown his ability to win on links terrain, most notably in winning his only national open as an amateur at Baltray in 2009 and then his career highlight of capturing the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush in 2019 – is the man leading the way.
The pursuit is on.
