Shane Lowry will head into the final round with a big chance to win his second Amgen Irish Open title after a sublime display of putting delivered a third-round 65 – and a four-shot overnight lead – at Doonbeg Golf Club.
In front of an onlooking American President Donald Trump, the Offalyman displayed his famed short-game wizardry to save par from just about everywhere on the back nine – and managed to knock in some crucial birdies as well.
The 2009 champion at Baltray got his day off to a perfect start when a long birdie effort on the first hole found the bottom of the cup.
He found another birdie on the par-five fourth before dropping his only shot of the day on the next hole.
BIRDIE LOWRY
A sixth birdie of the afternoon as leader Shane Lowry goes from strength to strength in Doonbeg
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Lowry birdied the eighth, 10th, 12th and 15th before surviving on his wits over the last hour of play as he got up and down from difficult spots on each of the final three holes.
Playing partner Jacob Skob Olesen drew level with Lowry twice in the middle part of the round but the Dane could not match the Irishman’s dexterity on the greens and failed to capitalise on his fine play tee to green.
Afterwards, Lowry spoke of what a second Irish title – and first as a professional after his famous amateur play-off success drama 17 years ago – would mean.
“It’s a big day for me tomorrow. I’m going out leading my home tournament and it would mean to the world to me to knock this one off,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“I’m going to have to put my head down, get back to work whenever my tee time is tomorrow and give it a run.”
Lowry and his putter have not always enjoyed the friendliest of relationships, but the way he one-putted every hole coming in had similarities to his Saturday back nine when claiming the Open at Portrush in 2019 – a day played in very different conditions – when the ball found the cup time and time again.
“I’m normally the one watching other people do it so why not me sometime?,” he said of that putting clinic.
“It’s nice to see my lines well, I’m starting the ball where I want to and they’re going in; hopefully that stays the way for another 24 hours.”
“I was going out there with the lead, I knew the conditions weren’t that easy so people were going to have to play really well to shoot a good score,” Lowry also said when discussing his round.
“I thought if I could shoot a good score I could kind of pull myself away a little bit.
“I feel like I did a good job on the back nine today, I felt like I stayed in the fight the whole day and I did some great work on the back nine and very proud of myself.”
Outside of Lowry, Tom McKibbin is best of the Irish, he’s on seven-under-par overall after a Saturday 68, good enough for tied-fourth heading into Sunday.
Liam Nolan also carded a 68 to sit two-under-par overall, tied 26th while Rory McIlroy’s poor week continued as he slumped to a 74 which leaves him two-over-par overall and well back in 50th place.
McIlroy was on the third hole when Air Force One flew overhead, with Trump arriving to watch the action having travelled to Ireland for a two-day official and sporting visit.
The 37-year-old confirmed he would be attending dinner with Trump, who owns the course and applauded the world number two at the 18th.
When asked about Trump’s arrival, McIlroy told reporters: “I guess that’s not the experience we’re used to in a way. I think it’s Air Force One’s maiden voyage, so that was pretty cool.
“Cool to sort of see all that going on. I was trying to avoid making doubles at that point, so I was trying to concentrate on my own stuff as well.”
A pair of double bogeys early in the round put paid to McIlroy’s hopes of repeating his Irish Open triumphs of 2016 and 2025.
“Two doubles in the first six holes wasn’t the way I wanted to start, obviously,” he said. “There were a couple of wayward drives.
“I took a chance on three trying to hit a driver there and get it close to the green and hit it out of bounds or lost ball, either/or.
“Then same thing on six. Tried to get it up close to the green, had to take an unplayable and made another one there. So no momentum early.
“And then it was a tough enough day. The wind was up and stuff and I just couldn’t quite get it back after that.”
Additional reporting: PA