Lowry takes commanding lead into Open’s final day
● Ireland’s Shane Lowry is in touching distance of winning his first Major after a majestic third round at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush yesterday.
Lowry’s round of eight-under 63, which included eight birdies and no bogeys, was one shot off the best round in major championship history. His 16-under total was also just one shot shy of the 54-hole record at the Open held by American Tom Lehmann.
In a week when the Open returned to Ireland for the first time in 68 years, and only the second time in its history, Lowry upstaged the feted Rory McIlroy at a course where the latter grew up.
McIlroy missed the cut as Lowry played the best golf of his life to take a four-shot lead into today’s final round. England’s Tommy Fleetwood posted a five-under 66 to move to 12-under while joint second-round leader JB Holmes was 10-under.
Four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka and Olympic champion Justin Rose were locked at nine-under and still in with an outside chance of winning with Ricky Fowler and Lee Westwood on eight-under.
Lowry, runner-up at the 2016 US Open, virtually lapped the field with a majestic display of ball striking and putting at the testing par-71 layout
SA’s Dylan Frittelli remains marginally in the hunt for the 148th Open on six-under.
Frittelli’s one-under 70, to take him to sixunder for the tournament, was a respectable effort in near-perfect conditions.
But it would take something extraordinary for the Joburg native to reel in Lowry, who fed off the raucous home support yesterday. Lowry’s 25-foot birdie putt on the last to match South African Branden Grace’s record of 62 in a Major, missed the cup by a centimetre.
But considering the quality of the names ahead of him it would take an extraordinary series of events to see last week’s winner on the PGA Tour win his first major.
Lowry turned in 33, moving to 11-under but he really put the throttle down on the back nine starting with a birdie at the parfour 10th.
On the brutal par-three 16th Lowry hit his tee shot to 10 feet, the closest anyone had been to the hole all day and duly sank the putt.
Another birdie followed on the par-four 17th after chipping to three-feet from the hole to set the stage for a grandstand finish at a course where the chance of making a big score on a hole is just one bad swing away.
South Africans Justin Harding and Erik van Rooyen fell out of contention with rounds of three-over and one-over respectively to both finish at three-under.
Ernie Els, who moved to three-under after three holes, returned a disappointing oneover 72 to end on one-under overall.