SHANE LOWRY AND Rory McIlroy are firmly in contention at the half-way stage of the DP World Tour Championship after climbing into a share of second place on Friday.
After opening with a four-under par 68 on Thursday, Lowry went one better on Friday with a bogey-free 67 to move to nine-under par, three shots behind solo leader Niccolai Hojgaard.
Lowry got off to a flyer with back-to-back birdies on his first two holes, and went out in four-under par, before rolling in a 15-footer for birdie at the par-four 11th.
“I got off to a great start both days,” he said afterwards.
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“Middle of the round, I didn’t make much happen the last two days, but felt like I just plotted my way around the course well, and you know, played my game around here.
“It’s easy to get into trying to hit it hard and long off certain tee shots, but I just played my own game, put it in position.
I drove it great today and my putter feels good, so yeah, I’m pretty happy.
Lowry is joined on nine-under by McIlroy, who made six birdies in a round of three-under par 69.
After opening bogey-birdie, the world number two — who is chasing back-to-back Race to Dubai titles, and his fourth overall — needed this brilliant up-and-down to save par at the fourth.
“I had to battle a little more today than I did yesterday,” he said afterwards.
“The conditions were slightly tougher as well so, you know, if you looked at the scoring yesterday compared to today, it is a little bit tougher.
I missed a couple more fairways today, and when I did miss the fairways, I got some really bad lies, like the worst lies I’ve seen this week.
“I didn’t even get it back on to the fairway at the last and had to scramble there.
“But I felt like I showed my scoring skills today, and battled well and stayed patient, and got the ball up-and-down when I needed to.
“Overall, you know, to shoot 69, I’m pretty pleased considering some of the spots that I found myself.”
McIlroy will tee off at 8.20am Irish time on Saturday alongside Daniel Hillier, while Lowry is out 10 minutes later in the penultimate group alongside Justin Rose.
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Lowry and McIlroy hang tough to share second place at DP World Tour Championship
SHANE LOWRY AND Rory McIlroy are firmly in contention at the half-way stage of the DP World Tour Championship after climbing into a share of second place on Friday.
After opening with a four-under par 68 on Thursday, Lowry went one better on Friday with a bogey-free 67 to move to nine-under par, three shots behind solo leader Niccolai Hojgaard.
Lowry got off to a flyer with back-to-back birdies on his first two holes, and went out in four-under par, before rolling in a 15-footer for birdie at the par-four 11th.
“I got off to a great start both days,” he said afterwards.
“Middle of the round, I didn’t make much happen the last two days, but felt like I just plotted my way around the course well, and you know, played my game around here.
“It’s easy to get into trying to hit it hard and long off certain tee shots, but I just played my own game, put it in position.
Lowry is joined on nine-under by McIlroy, who made six birdies in a round of three-under par 69.
After opening bogey-birdie, the world number two — who is chasing back-to-back Race to Dubai titles, and his fourth overall — needed this brilliant up-and-down to save par at the fourth.
He was one-under for the day thru 13, before back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 saw him position himself at the head of the chasing pack.
“I had to battle a little more today than I did yesterday,” he said afterwards.
“The conditions were slightly tougher as well so, you know, if you looked at the scoring yesterday compared to today, it is a little bit tougher.
“I didn’t even get it back on to the fairway at the last and had to scramble there.
“But I felt like I showed my scoring skills today, and battled well and stayed patient, and got the ball up-and-down when I needed to.
“Overall, you know, to shoot 69, I’m pretty pleased considering some of the spots that I found myself.”
McIlroy will tee off at 8.20am Irish time on Saturday alongside Daniel Hillier, while Lowry is out 10 minutes later in the penultimate group alongside Justin Rose.
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DP World Tour Championship Golf Rory McIlroy Shane Lowry