Golf-Lowry keeps his cool to stay ahead in Troon
By Mark Lamport-Stokes
TROON, Scotland, July 19 (Reuters) -Irishman Shane Lowry kept his composure after an unfortunate ruling on the 11th hole to card a two-under-par 69 and hold the clubhouse lead in the British Open second round on Friday.
The 2019 champion ended up with a double-bogey six at the par-four 11th after his ball appeared to be lost in a gorse bush before it was found by a spectator.
Lowry did superbly well to shrug off that setback, however, and birdied two of the last three holes to get to seven under par.
"I was in control of my ball and did all the right things for a lot of the round," the 37-year-old told reporters after establishing a two-stroke lead when his 20-foot birdie putt dropped at the 18th.
"Then when I got in a bit of trouble, I feel like I really finished the round well.
"I'm pretty happy with the day. To be leading this tournament after two days, it's why you come here, it's why we're here ...the job tomorrow as well is to try to put myself in a position to win this tournament on Sunday, and that's what I'll try and do."
Lowry, who won the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush by six shots, made a solid start to the second round, mixing three birdies with a lone bogey to reach the turn in two-under 34.
Playing the par-four 11th, he held a two-stroke lead but he missed the fairway and yanked his second shot way left into a gorse bush after being distracted by a cameraman. Lowry declared his ball lost before hitting a superb shot to inside 10 feet of the cup.
At that point, however, his original ball was located and, according to the Rules of Golf, his second ball on the green was no longer in play. Lowry took an unplayable lie, struck his fourth shot to just short of the green and two-putted.
"Through that whole process of 20 minutes ... of taking the drop, seeing where I could drop ... I felt like I was very calm and composed and really knew that I was doing the right thing," he said.
"To be honest, I was happy enough leaving there with a six. It wasn't a disaster. I was still leading the tournament."
After recording a two-putt birdie at the par-five 16th, Lowry struck a well-weighted approach at the last to 20 feet left of the cup before soaking up a warm ovation as he walked towards the green.
Cries of "Nice job, Shane" rang out before he coolly sank the putt.
"I have felt quite calm and composed the last couple of days," Lowry said. "I've felt really in my comfort zone."
Editing by Ed Osmond
Senaste nytt
Ansvarsfriskrivning: XM Group-enheter tillhandahåller sin tjänst enbart för exekvering och tillgången till vår onlinehandelsplattform, som innebär att en person kan se och/eller använda tillgängligt innehåll på eller via webbplatsen, påverkar eller utökar inte detta, vilket inte heller varit avsikten. Denna tillgång och användning omfattas alltid av i) villkor, ii) riskvarningar och iii) fullständig ansvarsfriskrivning. Detta innehåll tillhandahålls därför uteslutande som allmän information. Var framför allt medveten om att innehållet på vår onlinehandelsplattform varken utgör en uppmaning eller ett erbjudande om att ingå några transaktioner på de finansiella marknaderna. Handel på alla finansiella marknader involverar en betydande risk för ditt kapital.
Allt material som publiceras på denna sida är enbart avsett för utbildnings- eller informationssyften och innehåller inte – och ska inte heller anses innehålla – rådgivning och rekommendationer om finansiella frågor, investeringsskatt eller handel, dokumentation av våra handelskurser eller ett erbjudande om, eller en uppmaning till, en transaktion i finansiella instrument eller oönskade finansiella erbjudanden som är riktade till dig.
Tredjepartsinnehåll, liksom innehåll framtaget av XM såsom synpunkter, nyheter, forskningsrön, analyser, kurser, andra uppgifter eller länkar till tredjepartssajter som återfinns på denna webbplats, tillhandahålls i befintligt skick, som allmän marknadskommentar, och utgör ingen investeringsrådgivning. I den mån som något innehåll tolkas som investeringsforskning måste det noteras och accepteras att innehållet varken har varit avsett som oberoende investeringsforskning eller har utarbetats i enlighet med de rättsliga kraven för att främja ett sådant syfte, och därför är att betrakta som marknadskommunikation enligt tillämpliga lagar och föreskrifter. Se till så att du har läst och förstått vårt meddelande om icke-oberoende investeringsforskning och riskvarning om ovannämnda information, som finns här.
