Lowry fails to fire on moving day in Greensboro
Si Woo Kim of South Korea hits a hole in one from the third tee during the third round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on August 15, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Keane/Getty Images)
Shane Lowry has work to do to qualify for next week’s Northern Trust in Boston after a level-par 70 left him nine shots behind Si Woo Kim in the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club.
The Open champion (33) could not replicate the form he showed when firing a 63 on Friday, missing too many fairways in soft, humid conditions to create birdie chances.
He’s tied 23rd on nine-under and likely needs to finish tied 18th now to extend his 2019-20 season by a week.
Si Woo aced the 161-yard third and barely batted an eyelid, then lipped out for another ace at the 12th before making a two from seven feet at the 16th in a 62 that also featured birdies at the fourth, fifth, eighth, 15th and 17th and a lone bogey at the short seventh.
At 18-under, the 2017 Players Championship winner (25) leads by two shots from Rob Oppenheim and Doc Redman and by three from Billy Horschel.
Lowry looked set for another good day when he rolled in a ten-footer at the first for birdie. But he lost momentum several times, dropping a shot at the fifth, then following back to back birdies at the seventh and eight with bogeys at the 11th and 12th after mistakes from the tee.
A two at the 16th was followed by a bogey at the 18th, where he missed his eighth fairway of the day.
With only the top 125 progressing to the first FedEx Cup Playoff event, the Northern Trust, 131st ranked Lowry was projected to rise only to 126th, leaving him two shots shy of extending his season going into the final round.
Seamus Power, who likely needs to win to make the top 125, shot a bogey-free, three-under 67 to move up to tied 48th on six-under. Scores
Things To Know
Two of Si Woo Kim’s three 54-hole leads/co-leads on TOUR have come at the Wyndham Championship (2016/won, 2020/TBD)
With a victory, Si Woo Kim projected to move to No. 30 in the FedExCup standings
Five of the top eight players on the leaderboard either set or tied their career low rounds on the PGA TOUR: Rob Oppenheim (T2), Doc Redman (T2), Jim Herman (T5), Mark Hubbard (T5), Peter Malnati (T7)
Redman hopes to become the third North Carolinian to win the Wyndham Championship in the last six years
Zach Johnson and Jim Herman tie best third-round score in Wyndham Championship history with matching 61s
Players projected to move into the top 125 in the FedExCup standings: Rob Oppenheim, Zach Johnson, Peter Malnati
Players projected to fall out of the top 125 in the FedExCup standings: Fabian Gomez, Russell Knox, Charl Schwartzel
Top two players, not already exempt, in the top 10 and ties this week earn a spot into the U.S. Open
Preferred lies utilized during the first three rounds due to wet conditions
Clarke in the pack at Firestone
Meanwhile, Darren Clarke moved up 24 spots when he posted a two-over 72 in the third round of the Senior Players Championship at Firestone in Akron.
Winner of the World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational at the famed South Course in 2003, Clarke (52) sandwiched four bogeys between birdies at the par-five second and 16th to share 22nd place on seven-over. Scores
He’s nine shots behind Jerry Kelly, who added a 70 to rounds of 68 and 70 to lead one stroke on two-under-par from Woody Austin, Scott Parel and Colin Montgomerie and by two from Miguel Angel Jiménez.
Hurley best of the Irish in Austria
On the Alps Tour, Austria’s Lukas Nemecz shot rounds of 65, 68 and 66 to win the Gosser Open by one stroke from Spain’s Jordi Garcia Del Moral, Austria’s Alexander Kopp and French duo Thomas Elissalde and Sebastien Gandon on 17-under-par.
West Waterford’s Gary Hurley tied for 40th on six-under after a level-par 72 while Peter Dallat (two-under) and Jonathan Yates (one-over) missed the four-under-par cut. Scores
