Lowry lurking in Houston as Masters looms
Sam Burns of the United States plays his shot from the first tee during the third round of the Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course on November 07, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Shane Lowry shot his sixth successive round in the sixties to go into the final round of the Houston Open just five shots off the lead.
Looking for some good feelings with his game before his fifth trip to Augusta National for the Masters next week, the Open champion carded a two-under 68 to share eighth place on four-under par. Scores
Having closed with rounds of 69, 67 and 65 to finish tied 13th in the Zozo Championship in California two weeks ago, Lowry is now 13 under for his last six rounds on par-70 golf courses.
In encouraging news for his hopes of improving on a dismal Masters record — three missed cuts from four appearances—he’s rankled fifth from tee to green in Texas and 12th for iron play.
And while he’d like to have hit more fairways heading to Augusta, where driving the ball well is the big key to his hopes of success there, he appears to be close to his best.
Sam Burns shot a 68 to lead by one stroke on nine-under from Jason Day *(67) and Carlos Ortiz (67) with Sepp Straka alone (66) in fourth on seven-under and world No 1 Dustin Johnson lurking in fifth, three off the lead after a 66.
“I’m seeing a lot of similarities of how I was playing back when I was playing really well a couple months ago,” said Johnson, who missed the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek and the Zozo Championship at Sherwood after testing positive for Covid-19.
“It's nice to get out and get some reps. The game's feeling really good going into next week and obviously we've still got another day tomorrow and I feel like I'm in a good position with a chance to win.”
Brooks Koepka also showed some form, carding a five-under 65 to move up to 13th on three-under, a shot behind Lowry, who will tee it up with Tony Finau and Patton Kizzire in today’s final round.
Pádraig Harrington is tied for 28th on level par after taking 32 putts a one-over 71 yesterday with Graeme McDowell a shot further back after a 69.
