Lowry and Harrington steady in Houston as Caldwell targets Cyprus win
Sam Burns of the United States plays his shot from the first tee during the second round of the Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course on November 06, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Shane Lowry gave his iron play another good workout ahead of the Masters and carded a second successive 69 to keep the leaders in his sights in the Vivint Houston Open.
The Open champion missed just four greens in regulation as he mixed five birdies with four bogeys to trail leader Sam Burns by just five shots on two-under-par with Pádraig Harrington a shot further back after an excellent 68
"Personally, going into next week, it is probably a little bit too tough, too much of a grind," Lowry said of Memorial Park Golf Course and its raised Bermuda green, where he was tied for 14th with the likes of Tony Finau and world No 1 Dustin Johnson when play was suspended due to darknesss with only Charl Schwartzel to finish. "You don't want to be taking too much out of yourself this week, building up for a big week.
"Then again, it is what it is. You have a lot of long irons, and you need to be very precise where you are hitting it. In a way, it's not the worst preparation."
Graeme McDowell made just two birdies against five bogeys in a disappointing three-over 73 that left him tied 46th on two-over, nine strokes behind Burns (24), whose 65 gave him a two-shot lead over Jason Day (68) and Carlos Ortiz (68) on seven-under.
Johnson showed Masters form, making six birdies in a four-under 66 in his first event since his recovery from Covid-19 to move to two-under.
Harrington was a late starter, but the three-time Major winner continued his run of recent good form as he followed a bogey at the fourth with birdies at the fifth, sixth and ninth before finishing with nine straight pars for his 68 and a share of 21st on one-under.
Jordan Spieth was set to miss the cut on four-over after a 71 while three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson finished on nine-over, running up a quintuple bogey eight at the short ninth before holing out from 193 yards for an eagle two at the 18th for a 73.
Meanwhile, Clandeboye's Jonathan Caldwell is dreaming of a maiden win after he carded the lowest round of his European Tour career to make the weekend in the innovative Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown.
The Bangor man (36) rediscovered the red-hot putting touch that brought him back to back top-10 finishes in the Scottish Championship and the Italian Open, knocking in seven birdies in an error-free 64 to get to six-under.
The 32-man field for the third round will be finalised this morning after play was suspended for more than an hour and a half yesterday afternoon due to thunderstorms.
But Caldwell, who was tied for 21st as one of 33 players inside the projected six-under cut mark, feels good about his chances of a maiden win.
"It's all about making putts for me," said Caldwell, who birdied the second, third, fifth, sixth and 11th before play was suspended, then came back out and crucially birdied the 17th and 18th.
"I putted lovely in Scotland and Italy for those finishes. If I continue to putt like I did today, I think I've got a pretty good shot."
With the top 32 and ties advancing, all scores will be reset and the top 16 and ties after today's third round will go through to tomorrow's final round shootout where everyone will start from level par in the race for the €200,000 first prize.
England's James Morrison and American Johannes Veerman set the clubhouse target of 11 under par with Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson leading on 12 under par with three holes to complete as Ardglass' Cormac Sharvin shot a second successive 69 to miss the cut on four-under.
On the Challenge Tour, Michael Hoey followed his opening 67 with an 80 to slip from second to tied 45th alongside Niall Kearney, who shot 75, on three-over in the Andalucía Challenge de España in Cadiz.
Overnight leader Martin Simonsen of Denmark extended his lead to four shots from Sweden's Christofer Blomstrand on nine-under after holing out from a bunker for birdie on the final hole to post a three-under 69 at Novo Sancti Petri.
Gavin Moynihan's miserable run of form continued, however, as he had a ten on the par-five 11th in a 79 to miss the four-under cut by three shots.
