LOWRY CHASES MAJOR CHANCE
Offaly star shines while Rory endures horror day
AT the par four 11th, the hardest of all holes yesterday, Shane Lowry led the rescue party as Branden Grace searched frantically for his ball in the clingy whins.
These days, there is only a three-minute window to find a ball, so players have no objections to help from any Tom, Dick and Harry and soon, an ant-like army of 30 or so were scrabbling about. As it turned out, the hero was Gerard O’Neill from Portstewart who trod on Grace’s Titleist in the nick of time.
Sporting a bright red shirt and a set of yellow shorts, splashed with orange and pink, O’Neill was a standout figure in the gallery.
‘This is the most happening pair of summer shorts you’ll see out here today,’ he grinned.
Grace escaped with a bogey, which was fine on a hole playing to an average of almost 4.5. He then birdied the next two holes on his way to a 70.
It was a very fine score, if not at the same calibre as the record Open low of 62 he carded at Birkdale in 2017.
On a breezy morning, anything around 71 was decent score, which made Lowry’s 67 so estimable. Beforehand, Lowry spoke of being under the radar as the leading Irish golfer. Not any more. He is the leader of the six-pack by four strokes and arguably the only realistic contender.
On a demanding day for world’s elite — the squalls become heavier in the afternoon — huge galleries gathered early to row in behind Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.
Clarke, first out at 6.35am, briefly lit up the links of yore.
After milking the applause from the army of supporters on dawn patrol, he raced into the lead on three under par before becoming the first victim of a punishing last three holes.
In retrospect, dropping two shots on that stretch for Clarke wasn’t half-bad, nor was his 71, considering the fates that befell others later.
If someone had predicted on Wednesday night that Clarke could give McIlroy six shots and beat him over 18 holes, they would have been taken away by men in white coats.
As for McDowell, he had tears in his eyes on the first tee and fury in them leaving the 18th. His 73 left him feeling mugged.
‘Has anyone got a gun?’ he joked as he reflected on a round ripped from his grasp with a bogey, par, bogey, triple-bogey finish. The seven at the last involved a lost ball after his pushed tee shot landed in gnarly rough and couldn’t be located. Where was Gerard O’Neill when he was needed?
‘We found the ball about 12 seconds too late. It was 10 yards right from where we were looking. I’d have got it back on the fairway, too. I’m beating myself up for that triple. It hurts. It hurts a lot. I’ve got to make sure this doesn’t ruin my week.’
ASKED about McIlroy’s quadruple bogey, he pondered aloud: ‘What’s worse, to start with an eight or finish with a seven?’
Improbably, McIlroy, would do both as he stumbled to a 79, which included regular horrors of the handicap golfer — an out of bounds, a missed tiddler and a fresh air.
Amid the carnage of the two Macs, Lowry stealthily avoided the pitfalls of Portrush.
His game wasn’t perfect but he threw punches at the right time
and covered up superbly on the ropes when Portrush hit back.
‘I made some good decisions out there,’ he said modestly.
After back-to-back birdies on the ninth and 10th, Lowry fell victim to the evil 11th before a superb up and down from rough on the long 12th took him back to four under par.
Lowry was on his own on top of the giant yellow leaderboards at for the first time in his career — he led at Oakmont in the 2016 US Open — and he didn’t flinch.
At ‘Calamity’, his wondrous hands were evident as he played a wedge recovery from Bobby Lock’s Hollow to within inches of the cup.
In the previous match, Bubba Watson three-putted from the same place.
On the 17th, known as ‘Purgatory’, Lowry avoided the pain of a dropped shot, or maybe more, with a combination of luck and dexterous skill.
His tee shot was dragged left towards jungle country, which prompted him to play a provisional but he found his first ball, which was in an animal scrape from which he took relief.
‘I’d 160 yards to go and was trying to get it in front of the green with a nine-iron,’ he said of his stunning recovery which skipped past a protective bunker and gave him an outside birdie shot, which he left on the lip.
On 18, after an indifferent approach, Lowry conjured another exquisite up and down from the edge of the green to save par and post the day’s target.
It was his lowest opening round in eight Open appearances, and he wasn’t exaggerating when he said afterwards, ‘I’d have taken your hand off for that going out.’
There are 54 holes to negotiate and Portrush is full of perils but Lowry is upbeat.
‘Where my game is now, if I hit a bad shot, I feel I can get myself out of trouble. It’s a great place to be in. I hope it lasts.’
So do many others, for the Clara native is the soundest of sound fellas.
‘He stealthily avoided the many pitfalls of Portrush’