Shane Lowry (-8) has taken the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with authority. He delivered a card of 67 strokes on the second day and has taken the lead with a two-stroke advantage over Wyndham Clark.
The affable Irish golfer confessed that he never stops talking during a round of golf as long as he’s with a friend. With Rory the first two days, they chatted non-stop. This relaxes him, helps him escape from the score, but these aren’t the only words that serve Lowry. When it’s time to crack the whip, his hand doesn’t tremble, as happened this Friday on the 17th tee.
He had just made one of those bogeys that hurt a professional a lot on the 16th, a par 5 where you don’t mark the birdie before starting, because at Bay Hill doing something like that is reckless, but it is a hole you count on to subtract. He hit a bad drive, a poor third shot, and three putts for bogey. “Coming out of there, I had a couple of choice words with myself that worked because I played the 17th and 18th holes very well,” he commented with a laugh. There’s no need to delve much deeper into what those choice words mean. A word to the wise…
The playing conditions were easier this morning than yesterday. There was less wind. The greens remain hard and fast, and the rough is punishing, but without wind, or with little, it’s easier to be in position. Lowry played very well from tee to green. He’s getting used to the new driver he put in the bag this week, although the main key has been the irons and, above all, the putt.
For now, he’s taking the spotlight away from his friend Rory McIlroy (-4), although the last hole had a lot to do with it. Lowry finished with a birdie with a great putt from the fringe, while McIlroy made a painful bogey with three putts. Those two strokes of difference are a bit misleading because there really wasn’t that much difference in play. Rory hasn’t quite been sharp with the irons, but on the greens, he has been outstanding. If he manages to adjust the second shots, seeing how comfortable he has been with the putt, he will have to be reckoned with.
Wyndham Clark also left a lot in an accident in the form of a double bogey on the 15th… and thankfully. He made a putt of over six meters to make the double. “I think it’s the first time I’ve pumped my fist with a double bogey, but it was deserved,” he noted afterward. Every stroke counts on this tough Bay Hill.
Corey Conners (-5) should also be highlighted, currently in third position, as well as Russell Henley (-4) or Justin Thomas (-3). In any case, the other big story of the day belongs to Xander Schauffele (+4). The double Major champion in 2024 has given a lesson in grit to make the cut and thus maintain his extraordinary streak intact. It’s now 58 consecutive cuts made, the second-best mark in history after Tiger Woods. He did it even after committing two consecutive double bogeys that seemed to knock him out. “They were two silly mistakes and it’s very frustrating. Then I heard some birdies, I imagine from Lowry and McIlroy, and I said: if they’re making them, why shouldn’t I?” he stated. Specifically, he made two in a row on the 13th and 14th and one more on the 16th, although he finished with a bogey on the 18th. Mission accomplished. “The goal here was to play all four rounds to keep gaining golf,” he noted, after confirming that he has signed up to play THE PLAYERS, indicating that he is physically perfect after the injury.
Jackson Koivun (PAR) is another of the main protagonists. The Auburn amateur has secured the cut with another round of par and is one point away from achieving the PGA Tour card. If he finishes in the top 10, it will be his. Right now, he is three strokes away from that goal. “I don’t think much about it. Good golf takes care of itself.”
Among those who have already missed the cut are Tom Kim, Nick Dunlap, and Min Woo Lee.
