Herbert on the march as tree trips up seething stars
IT’S hard to miss the large lime tree that stands foursquare on the 17th fairway at Mount Juliet. And Pablo Larrazabal’s ball didn’t miss it.
Instead, it became lodged within the branches and was stuck fast, hidden from view.
The Spaniard was seething. ‘And they complain about trees at Valderrama,’ he hissed before playing his provisional ball and running up an eight.
Larrazabal, who was playing alongside Graeme McDowell, dropped from seven under to four under, his Dubai Duty Free Irish Open charge was derailed.
A little later, Justin Harding’s tee shot clattered into the same tree, dropped to the fairway from where he was able to play up towards the green. His third shot, a pitch and run from 50 yards, skipped into the hole for an eagle three and Harding, playing with Shane Lowry, jumped from nine under to 11 under.
With a pep in his step, he holed a 20-footer for birdie on the 18th for a 65 and lies third behind Lucas Herbert (15 under) and Johannes Veerman (14 under).
Such are the breaks.
Rory McIlroy (73) and Lowry (74) could have done with a few but Old Man Par had other ideas and they fell back to four under and three under par respectively.
McIlroy lost a ball right off the fourth tee and drove out of the bounds left on the 16th, which cost him four shots and any chance of making inroads on the leaders.
‘I drove the ball better at Torrey Pines than I did this week. It’ll be good to have Pete (Cowen) at the Scottish Open next week so I’ll get to do a bit of work with him,’ he said.
Lowry never recovered after finding the water at the third and will be out early today, which might offer the chance of catching Offaly and Kildare in the Leinster Championship.
‘It’s Wendy’s birthday tomorrow and we’re going away for a night.
I’m not sure I’ll get away with going to Portlaoise,’ he said.
Graeme McDowell began with a bogey-bogey-bogey whimper but recovered with five birdies for a 70 to lie on five under.
He revealed he has a muscle issue in his forearm which will require a long lay-off after the Scottish Open next week.
Cormac Sharvin, nursing an inflamed toe, took the best step forward with a 69 for seven under, which gives him a long shot at one of the three Open places available for those not exempt.
At the head of affairs Herbert is seeking to be first wire-to-wire winner of the Irish Open since Miko Ilonen in 2014.
‘The Irish Open is pretty cool and if you can win an event with Tommy Fleetwood and Rory in the field, I don’t think anyone’s going to try to knock that out of your possession any time soon,’ he said.
Whoever is crowned Dubai Duty Free Irish Open champion today, they’ll need to avoid the dangerous embrace of the 17th’s leafy guardian.