Lowry left to rue missed chances after wretched five holes that ‘defined my week’
ON moving day, the five Irish findouters at Portstewart got stuck in early reverse. None of the quintet made the fast start needed to figure on the giant Irish Open leaderboard flanking the 18th green.
Improbably, each card told a tale of early woe. Paul Dunne began fivefive; Padraig Harrington found the bushes with his opening drive and made a miracle bogey, while Gavin Moynihan coughed up two bogeys in the first three.
If Michael Hoey avoided significant slippage, he was also over par after five holes, while Shane Lowry was level through four.
It left them all playing catch-up on a day when they needed to be pace-setters.
In fairness, Lowry had a rattle with a run of three birdies from the fifth only to come unstuck on the ninth.
‘I had a birdie putt on the eighth to go nine under and was still going nicely on the next when I misjudged the distance with my approach,’ he said.
‘I thought there was more green beyond the flag than there actually was, and I over-hit with a wedge.’
A bogey began a wretched run as the Offaly man frittered away another stroke on the 10th and then lost a ball on the long 13th.
‘When you’ve a hundred people all looking for the ball, you expect to find it but I struggled at the 13th all week and it was my fault where I hit it.’
‘Those five holes defined my week,’ he added.
They certainly put paid to his outside chances of victory even if Lowry picked up birdies on the 14th and 15th to sign for a 71 for six under par.
It was the same mark as Hoey who finished strongly with three birdies in his final six holes for a doughty 70.
Moynihan had to take a sip of orange and gather his thoughts following a frustrating five-five finish, from the middle of the fairway each time, for a 73.
It was akin to a punch in the solar plexus after Moynihan had fought back with an birdie-eagle salvo after the turn to reach seven under par.
‘I chipped a six-iron close on the 12th and holed a bunker shot on the next, which was a bonus,’ he said.
‘The finish was annoying as my wedge to the 18th stalled in the wind.’
As the fairways became fiery, Harrington should have been up his alley but he was rocked by a pushed tee shot on the opening hole, deep into the bushes.
Against the odds, he managed to find his ball and holed a 40-footer for a five.
‘I was six shots back and under a little bit of pressure because you’re trying to shoot 64, or even lower,’ he admitted.
‘The decision to take the aggressive approach of the first might have been because of that.’
Harrington somehow made it to the turn in level par and picked up a lone birdie on the 14th for a 71. On eight under, he is the leading Irishmen but too far back for any final day charge.
It was a similar story for Dunne who ‘missed two gimmes’ on the first two holes and struggled with his short game throughout.
‘I was hitting it terrible on the range and was then on the back foot from the start. I got nothing going. The short game was as bad as I can remember,’ he said after a 74 saw him drop back to six under.