SHANE LOWRY IS in real danger of missing the cut at the Czech Masters, the penultimate qualification tournament ahead of next month’s Ryder Cup.
Lowry shot a round of one-under par 71 on Friday to move to two-under for the tournament, 10 shots behind early clubhouse leader Nicolai Hojgaard.
With only the top 65 and ties making the cut, the Clara native is tied for 70th at the time of writing and faces an anxious wait to see if he will make it to the weekend.
In a season of indifferent form, Lowry has had just one top-10 finish and failed to qualify for the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup play-offs.
With the top three on the European Points list automatically earning a place on the Ryder Cup team, Lowry started this week in 10th, but knew that a win could move him up as high as fourth ahead of next week’s final tournament.
If he fails to secure an automatic place, he will have to wait to see if he has sufficiently impressed European captain Luke Donald to earn one of the six captain’s picks for next month’s match in Rome.
Pádraig Harrington shot a four-under 68 on Friday to move to five-under par, good enough for a share of 26th place at the time of writing.
John Murphy will tee off for his second round at 3.40pm from two-under.
