Power leads Irish challenge as Lowry and Harrington falter at the finish
Séamus Power
Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington walked away disappointed with over-par rounds, but Seamus Power was pleased to plot his way to a level par 71 and lead the Irish challenge at The Open.
Lowry shot a one-over 72 to match amateur Alex Maguire, while Harrington feels his chances of winning a third Claret Jug have gone after he paid for a bad early stretch and an untidy finish to card a three-over 74.
Power's level par 71 left him tied for 30th, and while he was five shots adrift of the co-leaders, South African amateur Christo Lambrecht and England's Tommy Fleetwood, he knows he's still got a chance.
"Yeah, I played really nicely," Power said after sandwiching bogeys at the sixth and seventh between birdies at the par-five fifth and 15th holes.
HOYLAKE, ENGLAND - JULY 17: Shane Lowry of Ireland looks on prior to The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 17, 2023 in Hoylake, England. (Photo by Stuart Kerr/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
"One mistake on the greens and then didn't make any of kind of distance, but it was one of those days when I made a couple of nice saves there towards the end on some of the tougher holes.
"All in all, pleased, but obviously a little bit disappointed. Felt like I had good chances. I was hitting it very nicely there for a while. But it's not easy out there. There are not any easy gimme holes. So overall, not too bad."
He added: "Obviously, you'd love to be in the red figures. There is always something about that. But I don't think anyone is going to get too far away from me -- or hopefully. Maybe someone."
Lowry was one-under with six holes to go but bogeyed the short 13th and the par-five 15th and then failed to birdie the par-five 18th.
"Level par with four to play out there, and with the two par 5s to come, you think you're going to give yourself a chance to shoot under par," Lowry said.
"I didn't feel like it was that easy. I felt like the back nine was playing quite tricky. To get the ball in the fairway and get irons in your hand, tricky shots, wind in out of the left."
He added: "Look, I've shown over the last few weeks that I can go and shoot low any day I go out there.
"I played nicely. I hit some nice shots, hit some average shots. It's not an easy golf course. Like I said, it's just easy to stand there and look at the guys who are shooting good scores and say that's what you should be doing.
"But I think anything under par is a decent score out there. I obviously didn't do that, but I wasn't far away."
While Lowry was somewhat upbeat, Harrington believes his chances of winning have now gone.
He bogeyed the fourth, then got distracted by playing partner Talor Gooch shuffling his feet as he drove on the par-five fifth and followed a bogey six there with a double-bogey five at the par-three sixth, where he missed the green long left and watched a flop shot come back to him.
The Dubliner had pulled his tee shot into gorse at the fifth and sternly told Gooch, "Watch your feet," as they walked off the tee.
“Three over takes me out of the tournament”
He had to take a penalty drop from the gorse and did well to find his third shot after his five wood flew left towards heavy rough.
However, he refused to blame anyone but himself for what happened on the tee.
He said: "The problem was me. I lifted my head a bit on the backswing, and I just pulled it. It happens."
Harrington was more disappointed that he did not take advantage of a mid-round comeback as he followed a birdie at the ninth with a bogey at the 10th, then followed back-to-back birdies at the tough 13th and 14th by sandwiching a three-putt bogey at the short 17th between disappointing par fives at the 15th and 18th.
"After the two birdies in the tough holes at 13 and 14 and hitting the fairway at 15 and 18, I really could have been home in level par, which would have been okay, so it's just a disappointing finish," he said.
Sitting outside the top 100 when he finished, the two-time Open champion insisted his title challenge was over.
"The problem with with with majors now is you don't come back, you don't compete, you've got to keep yourself inside that 15 spots," Harrington said. "You don't come back from way out in majors.
"You can make cuts and things like that, but you've got to be hanging around near that top 10.
"We're completely bombarded with all the different gambling sites and stats these days. We know it's basically not a realistic chance unless you are within X shots of the lead and in X position after two rounds.
"So yes, three over takes me out of the tournament."
Senior Open champion Darren Clarke was a shot better than Harrington after making two birdies and four bogeys in a two-over 73.
