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Shane Lowry carded a third-round 65 at Trump International in Doonbeg to lead the Irish Open by 11-under-par, seeking his first win since the 2009 title he won as an amateur.
Shane Lowry will take a lead into the final round of the Irish Open at Trump International in Doonbeg after a third-round 65 on Saturday.
The Offaly man carded six birdies to back up earlier rounds of 67 and 62, the latter a course record. Lowry is 11-under-par through 54 holes. His record-breaking second-round 62 moved him to 11-under-par 129 at the midpoint. A front nine of 30 and a back-nine 32 on Friday propelled him to the top of the leaderboard, and he even contemplated a sub-60 round.
He is seeking a second Irish Open title, having won as an amateur in 2009. After the second round he said: It is one of the better rounds of golf that I have ever played. I feel like I am in a good place. Through everything this year, I feel like I have stayed as positive as I could.
Lowry added: The crowd's support does a lot for my confidence because I put a lot of pressure on myself in weeks like this. I want to come out here and perform, and I feel very happy, very proud of myself the way I did that the last two days.
He also said: It will be up to me to try and keep myself up there and give myself a chance on Sunday afternoon, and if I am up there on Sunday afternoon I know there is a crowd that will be behind me and they will be that 15th club in the bag hopefully rolling me home. Lowry noted: Golf tournaments are 72 holes, as I have found out a few times this year, and it is up to me now to kick on the rest of the weekend and give it a good run.
Tom McKibbin, from Co Down, is in a tie for fourth place on seven-under following his 68 today. Lowry leads a quartet of home hopes who survived Friday's cut, joined by Rory McIlroy, Tom McKibbin, and Liam Nolan. Rory McIlroy had a frustrating day, shooting a 74 as his challenge failed to ignite. His round included three bogeys and two double bogeys.
McIlroy had given Lowry his vote of confidence heading into the weekend. McIlroy said: He believes he is a good player in windy links conditions, so I think that is half the battle, believing that you are or knowing that you are. I think he feels like he has an advantage when the conditions are like that, and that is the way he sees the game, he sees the game with that flight.
McIlroy added: He does not really hit the ball up in the air that often, he usually flights it a lot, even when it is in calmer conditions. So I just think that this type of golf suits the way he likes to see the game and then I think it gives him that little bit of extra belief that he can handle it better than most.
Lowry has suffered late slips at the Dubai Invitational and the Cognizant Classic earlier this season. He has rolled up to Doonbeg a re-energised player. Time off since playing the St Jude Championship and missing out on the two final tournaments of the FedEx Cup playoffs has clearly recharged his batteries. Lowry said: I am ready to just kick on now.
I have got a huge 12 months ahead of me with a lot of stuff coming up and this will be a great start to it. He got to meet Mayo's All-Ireland winning footballers Ryan O'Donoghue and Aidan O'Shea afterwards. They waited with his coach Neil Manchip outside the recorders to shoot the breeze. It was Lowry's sort of day.
The children bodysurfed down the grassy dunes, squeals of delight accompanying their thrill rides. Yet the happiest head of all belonged to Lowry, his broad smile evidence that poker is not his thing. He could not hide his delight if his life depended on it. Lowry surfed through the fairways between the sandhills with a mesmerising display of golf.
His round was in some ways reminiscent of how he took control of the 2019 Open en route to lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush. He has a magnetic pull when his putter behaves like a magic wand. The large galleries flocked to witness some wonderful golf. Lowry was the star performer, and the crowds reacted with acclamation.
He felt their love. Lowry will now look to battle the elements, with heavy rain and strong winds predicted for the third round. If he can successfully negotiate that, then Sunday will be about closing the deal under the watchful gaze of US president Donald Trump, who is expected to attend. Trump's presence has drawn security teams to Doonbeg.
McIlroy said Trump's presence at the Irish Open can only be a good thing. The US president is expected to urge Ireland to buy liquefied natural gas from the US during his visit.
IrishTimesSport
The42_ie:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Shane Lowry Irish Open Doonbeg Course Record Golf Rory Mcilroy Tom Mckibbin Trump International Doonbeg
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