Luck of the Irish as Shane Lowry holes out 3(!) times after rallying to make Memorial cut
When a golfer records only 41 feet of putts in a round, it typically indicates they are either hitting the ball very close to the hole, missing greens and chipping close, or simply struggling with their putting. However, Shane Lowry opted for a fourth approach during the third round of the Memorial Tournament by often…
When a golfer records only 41 feet of putts in a round, it typically indicates they are either hitting the ball very close to the hole, missing greens and chipping close, or simply struggling with their putting. However, Shane Lowry opted for a fourth approach during the third round of the Memorial Tournament by often skipping the use of his putter altogether.
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Lowry, 2019 Open Championship winner, shot a remarkable four-under 68 at Muirfield Village Golf Club, describing his round as “interesting,” which was quite the understatement. He managed to hole out three times from off the green, including two eagles with full swings on par-4 holes. At the first hole, Lowry used a 7-iron from 194 yards out to hole out from the left intermediate cut. Later, on the short par-4 14th hole, he spun a gap wedge into the cup from 118 yards. Interestingly, Lowry, ranked 33rd in the world, made more 2s on par 4s than on par 3s, as he only birdied the par-3 fourth from 18 feet.
Lowry candidly admitted, “The first [hole] I pulled it; I’m not going to lie, I was trying to hit up the right side of the green and pulled it straight at the flag and had a nice bounce and went in.” He added that the shot at the 14th was exactly as he had envisioned, hitting it left of the hole with a slight cut and spin, which led the ball back towards the hole.
Midway through his round, Lowry also holed out from the front bunker for a birdie at the par-5 seventh, using a 45-foot shot. He needed only 24 putts for the day, finishing 54 holes at one-under 215.
None of Lowry’s Saturday heroics would have been possible without his determined performance on Friday’s back nine. After starting the day outside the cutline at five over par, he played his final eight holes in two under to secure a spot for the weekend. Reflecting on his journey, Lowry noted, “I’ve been struggling this week, and I thought I was very proud of myself the way I came back and made the cut yesterday.” He recalled the record-tying third-round 62 he shot at Valhalla three weeks prior, leading to a T-6 finish at the PGA Championship.
Lowry added that narrowly making the cut gave him confidence and allowed him to relax and play well on Saturday. He finished with a huge grin, saying, “and that’s why there should be a cut in golf, by the way.”