Lowry’s luck runs out on the 13th but Power remains in the chase

STANDING over his 120-yard approach to the fourth hole, his 13th, at Southern Hills yesterday, Shane Lowry couldn’t have asked to be in a better position in the US PGA Championship. The wind was up and he was breezing along at one under par for his round, four strokes off the lead. As a plus, his surgeon’s hands held a wedge on the shortest par four on the course. What unfolded next was lousy for Lowry and inflicted serious damage to his prospects of following Rory McIlroy and Padraig Harrington as Irish winners of The Open and the US PGA. With a pin tucked front left, close to a deep bunker, Lowry’s second shot was ambitious and landed too close to the pin for safety. The combination of wind and the slope didn’t provide sufficient check and his ball rolled off the green and into the trap. From there, he played a recovery that was almost exquisite. Almost. Lowry’s ball clawed to within eight feet of the hole, stopped and then rolled back into the bunker. Taking a moment or two to compose himself, Lowry ensured extra purchase on his fourth shot but was unable to hole an 11-footer for bogey. Within minutes, a potential gain on the leaders had been traded for a hefty loss as he tumbled off the leaderboard. Stung, Lowry (below) looked to regroup but there was one more blip to come, on the short eighth where he three-putted from 38 feet on his way to a 72. After a booming 370-yard drive on the mammoth 13th, Lowry followed up with a superb 265-yard second to within 17 feet from the pin. His eagle putt died at the lip but a birdie took him under par for the championship. Another birdie followed on the next where he sank a 17footer for a deuce, and he then reeled off a string of pars before a soft three-putt bogey on the second hole after he missed the fairway with his tee shot. Even so, Lowry was very much in the mix until his 13th hole of the day proved unlucky. He can’t afford any such errors today. Teeing off on the first at the same time as Lowry, Seamus Power made a fast start with a fourfooter for birdie on the 2nd which took him to even par overall. While he gave the stroke back at the next, Power dug in with six pars to the turn before picking up the pace at the 10th where he sank a 35footer for birdie. When Power cashed in on the long 13th with a five-footer for another birdie he was briefly inside the top 15. After finding a bunker on the 15th, he missed from six feet for par, but there were no further alarms as he parred in for a very fine 69 to add to his opening 71. On his first PGA appearance, and in only his second major, Power is on course to follow his decent Masters debut last month with an even stronger showing in Oklahoma. With his world ranking of 42 intact, Power is also guaranteed a place in next month’s US Open.