Lowry’s defence crumbles in sand
ABRACE of selfinflicted wounds ensured an early exit for Shane Lowry at the $7million Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. The defending champion coughed up bogeys in his final two holes to miss the cut by a stroke in the opening Rolex Series event of 2020.
It was certainly not the outcome Lowry would have wanted in just his second outing during a season in which he has targeted Ryder Cup selection as his main goal.
Two under starting out, Lowry was level for his round through 16 holes and on track for a weekend involvement, if a long way off the leaders.
After dropping a shot on the par-four 17th, Lowry needed a par on the long 18th to make the weekend, which should have been within his compass.
It was on this same hole 12 months ago where his approach secured a dramatic comeback victory over South African Richard Sterne.
With no room for error, Lowry’s second shot found sand to the right of the green.
His recovery plugged in the hazard and his subsequent putt for par grazed the lip as the Open champion signed for a disappointing 74.
Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington was two shots better on 72 but an opening 76 left him with too much to do.
Italian newcomer Francesco
Laporta made five birdies in his final five holes to leapfrog England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and take a one-shot lead into the weekend.
Fitzpatrick is an 11-stone sapling punching well above his weight in a sport increasingly populated by the muscle-bound.
For the first two days in Abu Dhabi, the Englishman played alongside American Bryson DeChambeau, who has put on 30lbs over the winter in an effort to keep up with the power hitters. The leading attraction is Mr Beefcake himself, world No 1
Brooks Koepka, who weighs in at over 14st.
‘I tried to do more in the gym over the winter, but it’s impossible for me to put on weight,’ said Fitzpatrick.
He might be slight of frame, but Fitzpatrick is persuasively demonstrating there’s still more than one way to reach the top.
Nobody boasted better allround stats on the European Tour last year, and he has continued in the same impressive fashion over the first two rounds.
And so, while DeChambeau hit it miles but frequently in the wrong direction to comfortably miss the halfway cut, and Koepka stumbled to an error-strewn 75, Fitzpatrick followed up his first-round 68 with a 67 to be bogey-free after 36 holes.
The refreshingly swift Fitzpatrick is also revelling in the new pace-of-play rules that have shaved about 20 minutes off times over the first two rounds. Even his notoriously slow playing partner got a move on. DeChambeau was quick on the course and even quicker leaving it, brushing aside all requests for comment.
‘We were under four and a half hours, and I can’t remember when it was that quick for a threeball,’ said Fitzpatrick. ‘Bryson was definitely faster. I think where it helps me is that if you’re playing at a quicker pace, you’ve got less time to think while you’re waiting to play a shot.
‘The last thing you want when you’re playing well is too much time to think.’
Fitzpatrick was back at his hotel as the wind picked up to make life more difficult for the afternoon wave. Koepka was one of those blown off course.
After no bogeys on day one, he had no fewer than four sixes yesterday. ‘No injury, no rust, no excuses – just me, bud,’ said Koepka, by way of explanation as to what went wrong. He starts the weekend seven off the pace.
“Last thing you
want is more time to think”