Lowry keeps his cool — just: "I was half thinking of doing a Henrik Stenson on it"
Shane Lowry threatened to “do a Henrik Stenson” after a nightmare run threatened to destroy all his hard work at Hoylake.
But rather than snap his five-iron in half after dropping five shots in a three-hole stretch before the turn, he did a Tommy “Lightning” Bolt instead, hurling it in disgust and giving it a kick before snapping out of his funk.
The club toss helped the Offaly man blow off steam and he eventually dug deep to play the back nine in one under to salvage a 75 that leaves him in the red on one under par.
Relieved he didn’t lose his cool completely in the worst of the wind, Lowry said: “I’m that type of player. If I bottle it up it could come out really bad. So I think if I just let it go, give myself a bit of a talking-to and get annoyed, it really helps.”
Tied for third on four under starting the day, Lowry bogeyed the fourth off a fluffed chip and birdied the fifth thanks to two fine three-irons before his round went pear-shaped.
He double bogeyed the tough seventh, three putting from the fringe after a pulled drive and a misjudged third from the middle of the fairway.
But the shot that really got him hot under the collar was a four-iron tee shot on the dangerous eighth, which caught the trees and finished up out of bounds.
Another six followed and when he tugged his five iron into a trap at the ninth — leading to another bogey — he hurled the club to the ground and kicked it in disgust.
Recalling how Stenson snapped a club over his knee on Thursday, Lowry said: “I was half thinking of doing a Henrik Stenson on it but then I thought I might need it coming in.
"It was tough because I don't really feel like I hit a bad drive off 7 and felt I hit a decent tee shot off 8, but it didn't even carry the out of bounds, so that was a bit of a shock to the system.
"Then I bogeyed 9. But I'm proud of myself the way I regrouped and the way I played the back nine.
"I didn't really hole anything but it was nice to birdie the last and get back to under par.”
Greystones’ Paul Dunne made a back nine charge but missed the cut on four over and the chance to claim the silver medal awarded to the leading amateur.
He dropped five shots in his first four holes to go out in 40 but stormed home in 33 thanks to four birdies in a row from the 13th for a 73.
Dunne said: “A day of two halves, really. It was a great experience and it was brilliant to make that run of birdies but hopefully one day I can make them on a Sunday.”
