Shane Lowry was disappointed not to become the first man to shoot 61 in the major but he insists he will draw on all his experience when he bids to win the PGA Championship and his second Major title at Valhalla on Sunday.
Twenty-four hours after the 15th anniversary of his stunning 2009 Irish Open win as an amateur at Baltray, the 37-year-old Offaly man became just the fourth male to shoot 62 in a major.
He had a downhill 12-footer at the par-five 18th for a 61, but while it missed left, he quickly put his disappointment aside after grabbing the clubhouse lead on 13-under par with a brilliant all-around performance.
The key was that he made 160 feet of putts and after suffering more often than not on the greens this year, he was thrilled to give himself a chance on Sunday.
“Yeah, it was pretty good,” Lowry said after shooting 62 for the fourth time in his career. “I enjoyed it. I enjoyed every minute of it, obviously. Probably the most disappointed anyone can ever be shooting 62. I knew what was at stake.
“Just didn’t hit the ball hard enough. Had it on a good read and just broke away from the hole. Look, I went out there with a job to do today, and my job was to try to get myself back in the tournament, and I definitely did that.
Lowry began the day tied for 29th on four-under, eight shots behind Xander Schauffele, before racing to the turn in six-under 29.
Remarkably, he didn’t birdie either of the par-fives on the back nine. But he still made three birdies in five holes at the 13th, 14th and 17th to post the best putting round of his career.
“I changed my putter at the Zurich Classic, and even there like if I had have putted well, I think me and Rory would have won by a few,” he sai
“I feel like I’ve sort of changed up how I’ve been practising the last two weeks, sort of getting away from the technical side of it and just trying to hole putts and just doing a lot of drills.
“But yeah, it’s nice to finally see a few going in the hole because it’s been a slow year for me on the greens. It’s been nice to see it this week.
“Look, when I got here, I saw the greens. The greens are beautiful. They’re a nice pace to hole putts. It was nice to see a few going in.”
He added: “I’ve sort of felt all season that if I could warm my putter up that I could be dangerous. I kept saying it. Here I am going out in one of the last groups tomorrow with a chance in this tournament. That’s nice.”
Lowry set himself the task of shooting six-under on moving day but after going three shots better, he’s prepared to take whatever the fates throw at him on Sunday after suffering his share of disappointments in majors.
“Obviously, you come here at the start of every major championship, and you know what it means to win one of them,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to do it before, and to win one is pretty good, but to win multiple, you’re kind of a bit of a different level. Yeah, it would mean a lot to me tomorrow.”
He added: “I’ll go out and fight hard. I’ve been in this position a few times before, learned from Oakmont (where he lost a four-shot lead after 54 holes) and tournaments like that and brought that into Portrush, and hopefully I can bring some of that with me tomorrow and just give it everything.”
As for his putt for a 61, he said: “I knew I just really wanted to hole it. Probably too much. I kind of stood back and allowed myself to enjoy the moment. It was a pretty cool moment to have. It would have been a pretty cool moment to kind of seal the deal and do it.
“But at the end of the day, I knew even if I didn’t do it that I did what I needed to do today, and I’m pretty happy with that.”
Lowry fed off Justin Rose, who matched him by playing the first seven holes in five-under en route to a 64 that left him a shot behind him on 12-under.
And he admitted he started to think about shooting 61 as early as the turn.
“Well, when you go out in 29, you think, wow, I have a good day going here, and you have 10 that’s a pretty gettable par-5,” he said. “I think when I holed the putt on 14, I was like, here we go, yeah, this is a good chance.
“But obviously 15 is a tricky hole and 16 is a tough hole. But it felt like I played them very well. Obviously to birdie 17, that’s when I knew I just really wanted to hit a good tee shot on the last. I pushed it a little bit and laid it up, and I hit a great wedge shot, and yeah, obviously just missed the putt. Yeah, it was in my mind from about 14 onwards.”
As for his decision to lay up at the last, he added: “Yeah, the ball was kind of sitting up in the rough. I had 170 yards from the fairway to the other side of the water, and I probably could have done it, but it felt like it was maybe a silly decision to go for it under the circumstances.
“I knew if I made five that I’m still in the tournament. If I made six, I’d be livid with myself. I felt like it was probably a bit too risky to take on.
“I hit a poor lay-up to be honest, and I got fortunate that it was in the semi-rough, and I had a perfect number from there. And I hit a great shot then after that.
“Regardless of what happens tomorrow, it’s a nice position to be in.”
As for Rory McIlroy, who got to within three shots of the lead when played his first 10 holes in four-under, the Holywood star lost his putting touch on the back nine and carded a 68 that left him five behind Lowry on eight-under. “Yeah, really got it going around the turn there to get to 4-under, and then I kept hitting good shots and had good looks at 11, 12 and 13, 15,” McIlroy said. :
”Then I made two bogeys with a missed putt on 14, a three-putt. Yeah, there was a six-hole stretch there, a seven-hole stretch where just sort of the putter cooled on me. “Depending on what happens tomorrow, if I look back on the tournament, I may rue that six-hole stretch where I wasn’t able to hole any putts.”
McIlroy is no stranger to going low, however, and he does not rule out following in Lowry’s footsteps, knowing he made need a 62.
“I have to go out there and try to shoot a low one,” he said. “I putted really well on Thursday, and then just the last couple of days it’s sort of deserted me. “I need the putter to sort of heat up again, and with everything else it’s doing, there’s certainly another low one in me.”
