Shane Lowry’s Blunt Message Sparks Debate

2019 Open champion Shane Lowry began the third round of the 152nd Open Championship with a two-stroke lead over England’s Justin Rose and Daniel Brown. However, after a challenging round of 6-over par 77 on Saturday, Lowry now finds himself three shots off the lead heading into Sunday’s final round.

Unsurprisingly, Lowry was not pleased after his performance on the 18th green. His frustration extended beyond his own play to the course setup, which he criticized as unfair on the back nine.

“It was a grind,” Lowry said. “Wasn’t much fun. Driver-driver into 15. 16 playing ridiculously long. Driver into 17… You’d have to question why there wasn’t a couple of tees pulled forward today, to be honest… They keep trying to make holes longer, yet the best hole on this course is 100 yards.”
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Lowry’s struggles began on the famed par-3 8th hole at Royal Troon, the 130-yard Postage Stamp. After his tee shot landed in the right greenside bunker, he made a double-bogey 5. The back nine proved even more difficult, where world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler described it as “the hardest nine holes that I’ll ever play.”

Lowry recorded five bogeys on the inward nine, finishing with a 5-over par 40. This left him at 1-under overall, three shots behind the current leader, Billy Horschel, who stands at 4-under.

Lowry wasn’t the only player battling the conditions and the challenging setup during the third round. Other players echoed his sentiments about the difficult back nine. LIV Golf star Dustin Johnson commented, “The back nine, that’s the hardest nine holes I think you could ever play in golf right now, with the wind and rain,” via SB Nation.

As the final round of the Open Championship approaches, the course setup at Royal Troon is likely to be a major topic of discussion.