Patient Lowry relishing desert challenge
Shane Lowry in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Picture Getty
Shane Lowry shrugged off some "horrendous" early mistakes to remain in pole position in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Clara man (31) knew it would be tough to go low again after opening with a blistering, 10-under par 62.
But despite bogeys at the second and third, he remained patient, avoided more mistakes and made four birdies to post a two-under 70 and lead the $7 million Rolex Series event by a shot from South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen and Richard Sterne on 12-under-par at halfway.
"I'm really happy with that," Lowry said after following a birdie three at the fifth with twos at the seventh, 12th and 15th, the last two of which were from eight inches and three feet respectively.
"I knew today was going to be a bit of a weird day after shooting such a low score yesterday. I just tried to go out and play like I played.
“To be honest, right from the start, I really feel like I played pretty well today. I think I gave myself a lot of chances.
"Some of the shots early on were pretty horrendous. I battled back and hit some really nice shots out there and hit some in close and made some birdies. I was happy with myself."
Lowry admitted that he failed to beat Paul Dunne even once during their recent 12-day practice stint in Dubai but still felt good about his game.
As it turned out, Dunne shot a second consecutive 73 to miss the three-under-par cut by five strokes as defending champion Tommy Fleetwood squeaked in thanks to a closing eight footer.
While Lowry missed four clear birdie chances inside 10 feet (including the last), hit just six fairways yesterday and failed to birdie any of the par-fives, his iron play was impressive.
"I hope I entered the two's," said Lowry, who has birdied six of the eight par-threes so far. “I’m pretty happy where my game is at, and I'm looking forward to the weekend."
He knows a first win for three-and-a-half years would catapult him from 75th to around 40th in the world but remains focussed on chiselling out scores.
And his strategy clearly paid off as he explained with good humour as he headed down the ninth having got back to level for the day following a scruffy start.
“I said to the lads walking off the third green, ‘Looks like I’m going to shoot 62 a bit quicker today,” Lowry revealed in a mid-round interview with Sky Sports.
Acceptance and making sure he continues to grind and chisel out a score no matter what.
"That's the way I am going to try and play this year,” he said of his pre-season chat with coach Neil Manchip. “It just so happened that I shot a 10-under yesterday.
"I have to just keep going, keep playing golf and try and shoot as good a score as I can."
With former Open champion Oosthuizen and compatriot Sterne firing 68's to lurk just one stroke behind and the evergreen Lee Westwood (45) also shooting four-under to lie just two shots off the pace, Lowry is relishing the challenge.
“It's great,” he said of the quality behind him. “To be going out playing with Louis tomorrow, I'll enjoy that, and hopefully I can go out and make a good show of myself.
“I mean, look, we're playing a huge event here, first one of the year, and there's not another Rolex event for a while.
“So it would be nice to get off to a good start and get some points on the board and then kick on from there.”
The leaders face strong winds today which could help Dustin Johnson, who is seven adrift after a 71, or reigning US Open and PGA champion Koepka Brooks Koepka, who is only five behind after a 70.
"I think it plays right into my hands," world number two Koepka said. "I think usually the tougher it is, the better I do.”
