McIlroy and Lowry make fast starts in Florida
Shane Lowry of Ireland plays a stroke from the No. 4 tee during the final round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 9, 2023.
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry took advantage of benign conditions to open with four-under 67s and move straight into contention in the Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches.
The European Ryder Cup duo looked impressive over the Champion Course at PGA National to sit just three shots behind clubhouse leader Chad Ramey.
Making his first appearance in the event since 2018, 2012 champion McIlroy made five birdies and a bogey despite not having his best day with his irons.
But it was also a positive round for world number 57 Lowry, who made his fourth birdie of the day at his final hole in a round featuring a spectacular eagle three at his 12th.
“Pretty solid,” McIlroy said after a round that featured birdies at the 10th, 17th, 18th, third and sixth before a tugged approach to the eighth led to his lone bogey.
“Some good, some not so good. Really good off the tee. That's been a really good thing.
“I led strokes gained off the tee at Riviera a couple of weeks ago, drove it really well again today.
“But a little loose with the irons. Didn't really hole much going out, but I holed a couple on the back nine.
“Overall, it's a solid start. 67 around here is always a decent score. It was so benign today. You're not going to get this course much easier.
“Probably could have been a couple of shots better, but overall, still a decent start.”
Lowry birdied the 16th and 18th to turn in two-under and made up for a bogey at the first with an eagle three at the third, where he hit a 217-yard long iron to three feet.
He moved to four-under when he ripped a short iron to seven feet at the fourth before following a bogey at the eighth, where he had to chip out of the trees, with a closing birdie from 14 feet.
The Clara man will get to play his first Signature Event of the season next week after receiving an invitation for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
He loves PGA National, where he has finished second and tied for fifth in his last two starts and will be looking to head to Bay Hill with a solid result on the board.
Ramey made seven birdies in a bogey-free 64 to lead by a shot from a large group featuring Andrew Novak, Ryan Moore, Austin Eckroat, Cameron Young and Chesson Hadley.
McIlroy admitted he has work to do on his irons, but he sounded confident he can fix the problem in practice.
“Yeah, so it's something that I've been struggling with for the last few weeks, and it's hard,” he said.
“It's hard to replicate on the range the visuals that you're getting on the course, and it's more a visual thing.
“When I see a pin on the left side of the green, I'm just a bit more uneasy of what shot to play and how I'm trying to swing it and whatever.
“I'll try to find a place on the range today where I can sort of imagine that I'm hitting to left pins and just trying to hit the shots that I want to hit.
“Repetition is basically all I need to do.”
On the DP World Tour, Tom McKibbin was tied for 15th, four shots behind home players Pieter Moolman and Shaun Norris, after opening with a three-under 69 in the SDC Championship at St Francis Links in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
Richie O’Donovan (33) struggled to a 79 to share 150th.
Meanwhile, Mairead Martin, Jessica Ross and Annabel Wilson won their first-round matches to reach the last 32 in the Copa de SM La Reina at Guadalhorce in Malaga.
Just four Irish players have completed 36 holes in qualifying for the Copa del Rey at Alcanada - Donnacha Cleary (84 82 166), Paul Coughlan (77 76 153), David Shiel (75 74 149), Ryan Griffin (73 73 146).
Sean Keeling (73), Hugh Foley (72), and Robert Brazill (72) will start their second rounds early on Friday.
