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Saturday, February 8, 2025

The Open: Shane Lowry’s scorching sizzling putter results in profession first


Shane Lowry appeared unbeatable at Royal Troon on Thursday on the Open Championship.

The 2019 Open Champion carded a bogey-free, 5-under 66 in brutal situations. He trails Daniel Brown, who fired off a bogey-free 6-under 65, by one shot as he sits in solo second.

Only 17 gamers fired under-par scores throughout the first spherical, a testomony to the 25-mile-per-hour winds that blew throughout Royal Troon. Very few gamers saved a clear scorecard, too.

But Lowry’s preparation for this event is why he’s in the direction of the highest of the leaderboard after day one. He performed many observe rounds early and took benefit of his later tee time.

“I’m very comfortable. I went on the market—fortunate I watched a variety of golf this morning and noticed that the golf course was not taking part in straightforward,” Lowry mentioned.

“I attempted to exit, play my sport, hit some good photographs, and gap a couple of putts. I did that, and I’m fairly comfortable.”

The Irishman had 25 putts after the primary spherical, tied for first among the many subject. He made three birdies in six holes on the entrance 9 to show in 33 photographs, a 3-under par rating.

Lowry made one other par-breaker on the 11th, and his remaining birdie got here on the 18th.

He defined {that a} journey to Royal Troon two weeks in the past helped him modify to those greens.

“Sometimes I battle once I come again from taking part in a season on the PGA Tour with the pace of the greens,” Lowry mentioned.

“I bought right here, and I performed a few observe rounds right here, and I used to be actually proud of how my pace was… I wasn’t struggling to get the ball to the outlet as a result of generally I may be like that. My pace management was excellent, and I noticed my strains nice. I really feel like hyperlinks greens while you begin to see your strains, the outlet feels fairly massive, so it felt like that at this time, and lengthy could it proceed.”

This 66 marks his lowest first-round rating in a serious championship. In 2019, at Royal Portrush, Lowry shot a 67 that first day. While he was proud of the rating, the 37-year-old stayed sensible.

“It’s solely someday. We’ve bought three extra days,” Lowry mentioned.

“I saved telling myself that on the market as a result of, for some motive, I felt like the gang was getting very excited. They had been fairly excitable, and it felt extra just like the weekend. I saved telling myself there’s much more to do, and there’s a couple of days left, so I stayed in my lane and hit some good photographs, and I used to be fairly proud of how I dealt with myself.”

The Open, Shane Lowry

Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images

Lowry mentioned he would give something to win this event once more however doesn’t wish to look forward. This first-round rating will imply nothing if he doesn’t play nicely within the subsequent three days.

So, it seems the Irishman will maintain himself grounded, as 54 holes stay Normally, Lowry likes to have an early spherical on Thursday and a late one on Friday, however he has the other this week. It is a fast turnaround that may permit him to get after it.

The situations shall be related at The Open for Friday’s spherical, too.

“If they’re, it’s not going to be straightforward, and pars are going to be good. That’s sort of the sport plan,” Lowry mentioned.

Lowry tees off at 4:47 a.m. ET for the second spherical with Cameron Smith and Matt Fitzpatrick. He appears to construct off this 66 and vie for his second Claret Jug.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For extra golf protection, comply with us @_PlayingThrough on all main social platforms. You may comply with her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.





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