As roars reverberated around the Wentworth estate to signal albatrosses and holes-in-one, Shane Lowry felt as if he was missing out on the party. That was until a monster drive down the Par 5 12th hole set him up for an eagle three, which provided the high point of his third round of the BMW PGA Championship on the West Course as a bogey-free 67 for 208, eight-under-par, moved him to the fringes of contending for the European Tour's flagship title.
Italian Francesco Molinari and South Korean Byeong Hun An shared the 54-hole lead on 202, 14-under-par, with Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee a shot further back in third.
In shooting successive bogey-free rounds of 67s, Lowry has shed the Jekyll and Hyde tendency with a surefooted consistency. “I’m normally a bogey and birdie master, I feel quite in control of myself at the minute. I’m excited to be out late again (in the final round) in our biggest tournament,” said the Offalyman, who has rebounded from a missed cut at the recent Players championship.
As Molinari and An shared the lead after the third round, Tommy Fleetwood fashioned an albatross two on the Par 5 fourth and Miguel Angel Jimenez struck for the 10th hole-in-one of his career, Lowry - listening to the roars from their deeds behind - stayed patient to finally find some of the largess being dispensed.
Lowry’s round started with a stubbornly obtained par, which actually provided the catalyst for a subsequent round where he hardly put a foot wrong. On that first, his tee shot found a fairway bunker and he was then left with a 60 yards approach with his third. He hit it to 12 inches, tapped in the par saving putt and move on with momentum from there on.
Lowry’s two birdies on the front nine - he two putted the fourth and rolled in a 12-footer on the ninth, which brought about a fist pump - saw him turn in 33. Then, on the 12th, his drive was pure. “It came off the face of the club like a rocket,” he confessed. It pitched at 320 yards and rolled on another 15 yards, leaving him with a seven-iron approach which he hit to three feet. The eagle putt moved him to seven-under and was later capped with a birdie on the Par 17th, where he rolled in an eight-footer.
“I didn’t get out of position at all,” said Lowry of his general game, although he did make a fine up and down from greenside rough on the third and performed a miracle two-putt down a wicked slope from the fringe of the 16th green to demonstrate his short game prowess and mental strength.
Of his philosophy going into the final round Sunday, Lowry - who is assured of staying inside the world’s top-60 for Monday’s cut-off for qualifying for the US Open - said: “All the same old clichés, will try to rip one down the first and take it from there . . . . I am not getting too far ahead of myself, I am sure Neil (Manchip) will bring me down to earth before I go out.”
England's Fleetwood made the biggest move, with a third round 65 that featured an albatross and an eagle that moved him up to fourth. The albatross on the fourth hole came with a six-iron second shot from 198 yards that pitched seven feet from the pin and spun in. "That's the first one I've ever had," said Fleetwood, who has shown improvement in form in recent weeks since starting to work with coach Pete Cowen.
“I think just my whole game is getting better and when it’s like that, it’s good to just show it, bring it off the practise ground and put it on to the course. The last month or so I’ve been playing really good golf,” said Fleetwood.
But Lowry - with recollections of a front nine 31 in last year’s final round that saw him cut into Thomas Bjorn’s lead on that occasion - is “excited” about assuming the role of chaser. “Six behind has a chance, it doesn’t take much to make a bogey on this course,” said Lowry, who hasn’t made a bogey since the 18th hole of his first round.
