Lowry has "ball on string" in Ohio; Meadow struggles at Olympic; Golf Ireland news
Shane Lowry
Shane Lowry had the ball “on a string” as he produced a brilliant driving display and signed for an excellent 69 in the Memorial Tournament at a soggy Muirfield Village.
Building on his tie for fourth alongside Pádraig Harrington in the PGA Championship, the Offaly man was superb off the tee and four-under with three holes to go when play was suspended due to a dangerous weather situation.
After restarting with a par at the 16th, he was disappointed to find sand from the centre of the fairway at the 17th and miss a five-footer for par before being forced to making a similar putt for par at the 18th after finding another greenside bunker.
“I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm driving the ball pretty good at the minute,” said Lowry, who was ranked first for strokes gained off the tee. “I think I was pretty good at Kiawah and I just had it on a string out there today. So hopefully I can keep that going.
“Out here you need to be out in the fairway because the rough is so thick and so penal. I'm not sure I was in the rough once today. A couple of fairway bunkers maybe.
“I was pretty happy how I did. I'm disappointed with my finish. I hit a perfect 9-iron into 17 and I hit a good drive on the last and still struggled, I hit a bad second shot, missed the green.
“So disappointed after finishing badly, but I'm pretty happy with my score.”
At three-under, he was tied with the likes of defending champion Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas, just three strokes before Collin Morikawa whose six-under 66 gave him a one-shot lead over Adam Long.
Harrington found water twice as he made two double bogeys and a triple-bogey seven at the 18th in an outward seven-over 43 before making three birdies and two bogeys coming home to sign for a six-over 78.
Rory McIlroy was one-over after two holes when play was suspended for the day.
At Olympic Club in San Francisco, Jordanstown’s Stephanie Meadow battled her way to a five-over 76 in the opening round of the US Women’s Open.
The Team Ireland star (29) made six bogeys in her first 14 holes before getting a shot back at the 388-yard sixth on one of the toughest Major set ups on the LPGA Tour.
Meanwhile, Golf Ireland has no plans to follow in the footsteps of Golf Scotland, which has become the first federation in Great Britain and Ireland to offer handicaps to golfers without needing to be a club member.
OpenPlay will allow the estimated 500,000 “nomads” who are not currently golf club members to obtain a handicap through the new World Handicap System at a cost of £5.99 (€7) per month.
“While Golf Ireland notes the initiative announced by Scottish Golf, there are not currently any plans for such a scheme in Ireland,” Chief Executive, Mark Kennelly said in a statement.
