Lowry gets a grip with super 68 as McIlroy struggles to 79 at Sawgrass
Shane Lowry of Ireland plays his shot from the 14th tee during the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2021 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Shane Lowry insists he's not afraid of a challenge and plans to stick with a new putting grip after opening with a super 68 in The Players at TPC Sawgrass.
On a day when defending champion Rory McIlroy three-putted four times and struggled to a nightmare 79, Lowry changed to the right-hand below left method and made 15 of 16 putts inside 10 feet.
The Offaly ace (33) made six birdies in a four-under-par round that left him tied for third, just three shots behind clubhouse leader Sergio Garcia on a day when the average score was 73.8
"Things have not gone great over the last few weeks, so it's nice to go out there and shoot a decent score," said Lowry, who has had just one top-10 finish in the past 12 months and lies 174th for putting on the PGA Tour compared to fifth in 2019, when he won The Open.
"I've been left hand low my whole life, and I've gone right hand low this week," Lowry explained, adding that he experimented with the method for one round during last month's WGC Workday Championship at The Concession and had his best putting round of the season so far.
He reverted to his usual method for last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill but missed the cut after enduring a nightmare on the greens.
His coach Neil Manchip in the US this week, however, and they opted to try the right-hand low method again yesterday and hit the jackpot.
"I just hope that it works for the next few days and the next few years," Lowry said. "I know I'm a good chipper, and I know I've got good hands, so I figured that if I can stand up and just putt like how I chip, and putt with a bit for feel and react to the line as opposed to trying to get everything so perfect, it's nice.
"But, look, I know more than anyone today is one day. I'm not getting ahead of myself. I have to relax and put today behind me and keep going tomorrow and try and shoot as good a score I can."
Explaining the mental battle he faces on the greens, he added: "It's not just standing up and stroking the putt. It's a mental thing, just allowing yourself to do it, allowing yourself to free up and be able to do it. There's so much involved for this game, it's tough at times and, but I've never been one to kind of shy away from a challenge. So I'm really prepared to go out tomorrow and shoot as good a score as I can, and hopefully, I'll be in a good position this weekend."
Lowry loves challenging courses, and while he has just one top 20 finish in five previous appearances at TPC Sawgrass, sharing 16th in 2016, he's up for the challenge.
"I watched a bit of the golf this morning, and I could see how difficult it was playing and, but that excites me," added Lowry, who is tied for third with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Corey Conners. "That kind of gets me, gets my juices flowing, and I like that type of golf."
Winner of the title in 2008, Garcia (xx) made two eagles and four birdies in a seven-under 65 to lead by two strokes from left-hander Brian Harman.
Big-hitting Bryson Dechambeau was tied for sixth with Lee Westwood, Denny McCarthy, Tom Hoge and Rory Sabbatini after a three-under 69 when play was suspended due to darkness with seven groups set to resume their round at 1230 Irish time today.
The resurgent Jordan Spieth shot 70 to share 12th on two-under while Graeme McDowell's 73 left him just inside the cut line, tied for 60th with the likes of world No 1 Dustin Johnson.
McIlroy was tied for 139th after he made three birdies, four bogeys, a double-bogey and a quadruple-bogey eight at the 18th (his ninth) in a 79.
His seven-over round matched the 79 he shot in the opening round of the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush as the second-highest first-round score of his PGA Tour career.
His worst opening round remains his 10-over 80 he carded in the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
Whatever about the two-way miss that caused him to open with a double-bogey six or hit two balls in the water and run up quadruple-bogey eight at the 18th, his four three-putts and general lack of spark point to a man running on fumes as he plays his seventh event in eight weeks.
"The passion and the get out of my way, here I come attitude we used to see and were enthralled by with McIlroy doesn't see to be there at the moment," said Sky Sports' Paul McGinley, who is critical of McIlroy's schedule. "There seems to be a staleness about him, there is not an excitement about what he is doing."
McIlroy was hurried through the mixed zone afterwards, answering a few perfunctory questions about a round featuring the joint highest opening nine-hole score of his PGA Tour career.
Fighting the two-way miss that led to a closing 76 at Bay Hill, his problems began when he attempted to hold up a three-wood at the 404-yard 10th but snap hooked it into the trees.
He then failed to birdie the par-five 11th, missed a chance at the 12th, three-putted the 13th and was left in the trees at the par-five 16th, where he had to scramble for par after missing the green from 93 yards.
After navigating the treacherous 17th in par, he hooked his tee shot into the lake at the 18th, dropped 40 yards ahead on a forward tee but hit a four-iron into the lake again before three-putting from 50 feet.
"I just hit a drive that started 10 yards left of where I was aiming and went on the wind and did the same thing with the 4-iron," McIlroy said. "You're not really sure where the shots are coming from, and as I said earlier in the week, it's hard to at least to try to eliminate one side of the golf course, basically."
He rallied somewhat on the back nine with birdies at the first, the par-five second and the fifth. But he missed from inside five feet for par at the third, three-putted the fourth, hooked an iron 40 yards wide at the sixth and signed off with a three-putt bogey six.
As 2008 champion Garcia observed: "You try to force things a little bit and obviously, unfortunately for him, it bit him a little bit."
The Spaniard birdied the 15th and eagled the 16th to turn in 33, then came home in 32 by making an 18 footer for another eagle at the ninth, carding a seven-under 65 to lead by three strokes from Matthew Fitzpatrick and Corey Conners.
Graeme McDowell was pleased to card a one-over 73 featuring one birdie and two bogeys and believes a level par total would be worth much gold given the firm conditions and super-slick greens.
"Well, I mean, they always call this golf course a little bit of superstar killer, right?" McDowell said as the scoring average headed towards 74. "I feel like this golf course has that reputation, right. It kind of had Rory's number for a lot of years."
Believing he's starting to "turn a corner" with his swing as the pandemic eases and fans return, he added: "I'm just satisfied that to me this week feels like the beginning. It feels like the end of something, and it feels like the beginning of something, I don't know what it is."
