SHANE LOWRY CLIMBED towards the top 10 on moving day with a five-under par 67 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
But Rory McIlroy saw his tournament defence blown off course as a triple-bogey and a double-bogey left him 10 shots adrift of leader Akshay Bhatia.
Lowry – who was runner-up when McIlroy won here 12 months ago – had seven birdies on his card to move to 13-under, six behind Bhatia.
Collin Morikawa, who shot the low round of the day with 62, is one of three players two shots behind Bhatia on 17-under par, joined by Sepp Straka and Jake Knapp.
With strong winds having a major impact on the final holes of Saturday’s round, and gusts of 30-35mph forecast for Sunday, tournament organisers brought the final-round tee times forward to start at 3.22pm Irish time.
Advertisement
Lowry was on the front foot from the very first hole, opening with three straight birdies, and did well to escape from the par-three fifth with no worse than a bogey after his tee shot went out of bounds.
The Clara native made the turn in two-under, and watched a 30-footer for birdie at the 12th come up just short, before taking full advantage of opportunities on 13 and again on 15.
A brilliant second shot into the par-five 18th left Lowry with two putts for a closing birdie, leaving him in a tie for 11th overnight.
McIlroy was two-under thru three to start his round on Saturday, but saw things quickly unravel with this horror seven at the par-four fourth.
The world number two undid the worst of that damage, a super tee shot at the par-three fifth leaving him with a five-foot birdie, before another birdie at the par-five sixth.
McIlroy was the second-worst player in the field on Saturday for strokes gained off the tee, but third-best for strokes gained on approach. He fought his way back to two-under for the day with back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15, only for another OB drive on 18 to prove costly, ending with a three-putt double-bogey for a level par 72.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Lowry six back as McIlroy's Pebble Beach defence blown off course with triple-bogey
SHANE LOWRY CLIMBED towards the top 10 on moving day with a five-under par 67 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
But Rory McIlroy saw his tournament defence blown off course as a triple-bogey and a double-bogey left him 10 shots adrift of leader Akshay Bhatia.
Lowry – who was runner-up when McIlroy won here 12 months ago – had seven birdies on his card to move to 13-under, six behind Bhatia.
Collin Morikawa, who shot the low round of the day with 62, is one of three players two shots behind Bhatia on 17-under par, joined by Sepp Straka and Jake Knapp.
With strong winds having a major impact on the final holes of Saturday’s round, and gusts of 30-35mph forecast for Sunday, tournament organisers brought the final-round tee times forward to start at 3.22pm Irish time.
Lowry was on the front foot from the very first hole, opening with three straight birdies, and did well to escape from the par-three fifth with no worse than a bogey after his tee shot went out of bounds.
The Clara native made the turn in two-under, and watched a 30-footer for birdie at the 12th come up just short, before taking full advantage of opportunities on 13 and again on 15.
A brilliant second shot into the par-five 18th left Lowry with two putts for a closing birdie, leaving him in a tie for 11th overnight.
McIlroy was two-under thru three to start his round on Saturday, but saw things quickly unravel with this horror seven at the par-four fourth.
The world number two undid the worst of that damage, a super tee shot at the par-three fifth leaving him with a five-foot birdie, before another birdie at the par-five sixth.
McIlroy was the second-worst player in the field on Saturday for strokes gained off the tee, but third-best for strokes gained on approach. He fought his way back to two-under for the day with back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15, only for another OB drive on 18 to prove costly, ending with a three-putt double-bogey for a level par 72.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Golf Pebble Beach PGA Tour Rory McIlroy Shane Lowry