Irish golfer creates history
He hit only four fairways, and shanked a drive into a rubbish dump, but it didn’t stop Irishman Shane Lowry from making European Tour history yesterday.
Landfill and all, the 31-year-old went bogey-free on his way to a
10-under 62 in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Championship, giving him a three-stroke lead over a pack of four, including South African Louis Oosthuizen.
Lowry is the first player in European Tour history (more than 300,000 rounds) to shoot
10-under par after hitting fewer than five fairways.
He might just also be the first player in the tour’s history to have sprayed a drive into a bordering landfill, which he expertly hit out of to save par on route to matching Henrik Stenson’s Abu Dhabi Golf Club course record.
Rolling in 10 birdies wasn’t a bad way to start his bid to reignite his career after losing his PGA Tour card in the United States last year.
Down to 75th in the rankings and now three years without a win, Lowry is adjusting to life back as a fulltime European Tour player after failing to successfully juggle his commitments on both sides of the Atlantic in 2018.
He appears to be reaping the rewards of a lengthy spell of practice in Dubai at the start of new year after not playing competitively since November.
‘‘I feel good about my game,’’ Lowry said after his scorching opening round. ‘‘It’s probably the best pre-season I’ve ever done.’’
Kiwi Ryan Fox is seven shots back in a share of 22nd after he opened with a three-under 69.