Lowry and McKibbin in Dubai mix as McIlroy gets stuck in neutral
Shane Lowry believes he could be “quite dangerous” on Sunday, but he knows he must back up his second-round 67 with another good score to contend for the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
On a day when Rory McIlroy struggled to a level par 72 to slip back to tired 34th on one-under, the Offaly star made over 200 feet of putts and holed a bunker shot for an eagle three before taking six at the last.
His 67 moved him to within six shots of Ryder Cup teammate Nicolai Højgaard, who eagled the 18th to card a six-under 66 and lead by two shots on 11-under from Tommy Fleetwood (66), Norway’s Viktor Hovland (66), France’s Antoine Rozner (67), South African Thriston Lawrence (64) and Sweden’s Jens Danthorp (67).
Tied for 17th on five-under with Tom McKibbin, who shot 68, Lowry is upbeat about the weekend at a time of year when he finds it hard to stay motivated.
“It’s that time of year where golf can sometimes feel a little bit hard for me,” said Lowry, who is 44th in the Race to Dubai with little to fight for this week bar world ranking points and cash.
“I feel like I like to be in the tournament for the weekend and it'll give me a lot of motivation to get out there and play well.
“If I can do the same thing tomorrow as I did today, I could probably be dangerous come Sunday.”
The 2019 Open champion began the day tied 24th on level par and slipped further down the leaderboard when he bogeyed the third.
But on a low-scoring day where preferred lies were in operation after heavy overnight rain, he played an 11-hole mid-round stretch in seven-under-par to surge right into the mix.
After saving par from 10 feet at the fifth to remain one-over, he rolled in a 20-footer for a two at the 195-yard sixth, then holed a long bunker shot for eagle at the par-five seventh before curling home a 30-footer for birdie at the eighth.
He was suddenly just three shots off the lead and went on to make a 60-footer at the 11th, a 34-footer at the 14th and a 20-footer at the 16th before taking six at the last after a drive into the water.
“The bunker shot on seven got me going and then the putt on the eighth, and I was flying was pretty good after that,” Lowry said.
“That was it really. I played really solid all day and it was just a disappointing finish, but I’m back in the tournament.”
Rookie McKibbin also battled his way back into the tournament when he turned on level, then made four birdies in five holes from the 12th to keep alive his outside chances to putting himself in the battle for one of ten PGA Tour cards with a podium finish.
As for McIlroy, he confessed he was “stuck in neutral all day” as he added a 72 to his opening 71 to share 34th on one-under.
“Sort of similar to yesterday,” McIlroy said. “I got off to a decent start again, a couple under through nine, and just hit some loose shots coming in.
“I hit a putt on 11 that I was a little aggressive with and missed the one coming back, and yeah, I was trying to make some birdies in the back nine to get something going, and I couldn't and was just sort of stuck in neutral all day.”
He still believes he can get back into the title race with a low third round but he’s will have to cut out the mistakes.
“I do,” he said. “I hit nine greens on the front nine, and I played nicely, and I didn't putt as well as I did yesterday.
“So yeah, there’s a low one out there, and obviously, I'm going to need a low one to get myself back in the tournament.”
Højgaard came home in 30 for his 66, ripping his approach to six feet at the last to set up a closing eagle three.
