Shane Lowry three shots off Canadian Open lead as Rory McIlroy falters
Rory McIlroy faces a battle to make the cut today at the Canadian Open as Offaly's Shane Lowry remains three shots off the lead after an impressive first round.
Seamus Power was forced to withdraw from the event after nine holes, with the Waterford man suffering from a recurring back injury.
Thorbjørn Olesen and Cristobal Del Solar are setting the early pace at TPC Toronto, both shooting a 61 to go nine under par in the first round.
The Holywood man is getting to grips with a new driver ahead of the US Open next week, shooting one over thanks to two late bogeys to finish off the round.
The first tournament since his disappointing showing in the PGA Championship, he will need to familiarise himself with his new equipment if he is to succeed here.
He told ASAP Sports that: "I actually felt like I played OK."
"There was a couple of shots in there, it was my first outing with a new driver, and I felt like that went pretty well. I hit some drives that I liked and that I liked to see, so that was encouraging."
"The one I had been playing with previously, when I missed with it, I was a little bit left. Then my miss with this one is a little bit right. It's just trying to figure that out and manage it a little bit,"
"It's a nice feeling to get up the middle of the fairway and fully release it and know it's not going to go left on you."
He remains outside the top 100 with a few shots to make up if he is to make the cut.
Shane Lowry is right in the mix, shooting six-under to tie for fifth in the early stages.
He bookended his round with birdies, with five more coming his way interrupted by a bogey on the 13th after a wayward drive.
McIlroy tees off at 5:55pm, with Ludwig Aberg and Luke Clanton in his group, while Lowry gets going alongside Robert MacIntyre and Corey Conners at 12:40pm.
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Irish Independent
6 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Rory McIlroy admits ‘concern' for US Open as he crashes to 78 to miss Canadian Open cut
The Masters champion hit just four fairways at TPC Toronto and shot his highest score since opening with a 78 en route to missing the weekend in last year's Open at Royal Troon. "Yeah, of course it concerns me," McIlroy said after his first missed cut since the final Major of the season last July. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. "Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't. "Obviously, going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways. Still searching for the missing piece off the tee. "Obviously, for me, when I get that part of the game clicking, then everything falls into place for me. Right now that isn't. Yeah, that's a concern going into next week." McIlroy had his preferred driver ruled non-conforming at last month's PGA Championship and struggled from the tee there, finishing 14 shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler in joint 47th. He opted for the new TaylorMade model this week but again struggled from the tee en route to missing the cut by a whopping 11 shots. The Holywood star knew he needed to shoot in the 60s to make the cut after opening with a one-over 71. But his hopes evaporated early when he tugged his second out of bounds playing with a wedge from the rough at the 447-yard fifth and ran up a quadruple bogey eight. Further bogeys followed at the eighth and 10th before he blocked his tee shot into a pond at the 197-yard 11th and made a double-bogey five, then dropped another shot at the 13th, where he drove miles left behind a tree. He made his first birdie of the day at the 15th but bogeyed the 17th before finishing with a birdie four. "I think there's still learnings that you have to take from a day like today," said McIlroy, who found just four fairways, two on each nine. "Even though the last two days didn't go the way I wanted them to, there are still things that I can take from it, and there are still things that I can learn. "I'm gonna have to do a lot of practice and a lot of work over the weekend at home to try to at least have a better idea of where my game is going into next week." He has a decision to make about his driver before taking on Oakmont's punishing rough, as eight of his ten misses in round two were to the right. "I didn't hit enough fairways," he said. "I felt like I drove the ball a bit better yesterday than I did today. "I think once I made that big number on the front nine, I was always behind the eight ball a little. And then, after nine holes, I'd sort of resigned myself to the fact that I'd be flying home to Florida tonight. "It was just about trying to make a few good swings, seeing where the misses were, and you're trying to sort of learn as much as I could, just looking ahead to next week." On the driver, he added: "So I went back to a 44-inch driver this week to try to get something that was a little more in control and could try to get something a bit more in play. "But if I'm going to miss fairways, I'd rather have the ball speed and miss the fairway than not. "I said to Harry going down the last, this is obviously the second time this year I've tried the new version [of driver], and it hasn't quite worked out for me. "So I'd say I'll be testing quite a few drivers over the weekend." It was a better day for Shane Lowry, who shot a two-under 68 to go into the weekend tied for seventh, just four shots behind Cameron Champ on eight-under. Champ shot 66 to lead by two shots on 12-under from Andrew Putnam, who shot a best-of-the-day 62.
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Rory McIlroy has 'concerns' as he misses Canadian Open cut by country mile
Rory McIlroy's US Open preparations went spectacularly awry as yet another happy hunting ground turned on him in vicious fashion, the Masters champion missing the cut by a country mile in a Friday horror show at the RBC Canadian Open. Twice a winner in Toronto, McIlroy purred midweek about how this tournament has served as such a reliable springboard to the year's third major in recent years. The 2025 edition didn't follow suit in any way, shape or form, instead ejecting him out at the halfway mark as he missed a cut in North America for the first time in over two years. McIlroy admitted he'll be leaving with deep concerns, particularly after a driver change didn't go according to plan at all. 'Of course it concerns me. You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today,' said a visibly frustrated McIlroy. 'I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't. 'Obviously going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways. I'm still searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee. Obviously for me, when I get that part of the game clicking, then everything falls into place for me. Right now that isn't. Yeah, that's a concern going into next week.' Needing a second-round revival after a sluggish opener at TPC Toronto, McIlroy instead plumbed the depths with an utterly woeful 8-over 78, low-lighted by a quadruple bogey eight. Somehow, it could have been worse, a couple of late birdies saving him from finishing double digits over par. To blame it all on the bedding-in period for his new TaylorMade driver would be to ignore all the other parts of his game which coughed and spluttered. He left the course on 9-over with just three others in the 153-strong field below him. With the notoriously challenging Oakmont hosting next week's US Open, there's a laundry list of work-ons. 'I think there's still learnings that you have to take from a day like today. Look, even though the last two days didn't go the way I wanted them to, there's still things that I can take from it, and there's still things that I can learn,' he insisted. 'I'm going to have to do a lot of practice and a lot of work over the weekend at home and try to at least have a better idea of where my game is going into next week." How disorienting this must all feel, mere weeks removed from his drought-breaking, career grand slam-clinching victory at Augusta in April. In truth, it looks as though McIlroy hasn't yet figured out what golf will look like now that he achieved his holy grail. At the PGA Championship last month, hosted at a Quail Hollow course which he has made his own, he was also fitful and frustrated. At least there he made the cut. It was clear his trip north would be a short one after the disaster came early Friday afternoon. A wild second shot out of the right rough on the 5th hole ended up with a lost ball and from there little improved as he carded an ugly quadruple eight. Another bogey at the 8th left him on 6-over with the cutline disappearing over the horizon. 'I didn't hit enough fairways. I felt like I drove the ball better yesterday than I did today. I think, once I made that big number on the front nine, I was always behind the 8 ball a little bit. After nine holes, I sort of resigned myself to the fact that I'd be flying home to Florida tonight,' McIlroy said. It got worse, another wild drive on 10 the spark for another bogey and then a wet tee shot on the short 11th resulting in a double. Even the late brace of birdies was offset by one more bogey in between on the 17th. Look at the strokes gained data and there were only flashing red lights for the Holywood man. Most worryingly, he was 148th of 153 off the tee. After the driver he used to win at Augusta was deemed non-conforming in a pre-PGA check at Quail Hollow, McIlroy has been testing out a new big stick. So far it's a bit of trial and a lot of error. 'So I went back to a 44-inch driver this week to try to get something that was a little more in control and could try to get something a bit more in play. But if I'm going to miss fairways, I'd rather have the ball speed and miss the fairway than not,' he explained. 'I was saying to Harry going down the last this is the second time this year I've tried the new version, and it hasn't quite worked out for me. So I'd say I'll be testing quite a few drivers over the weekend.' The Irish challenge will instead be carried by Shane Lowry who followed Thursday's stellar 64 with a steadier two-under 68 to put himself in a halfway clubhouse tie for sixth, four shots back of leader Cameron Champ.
Irish Independent
8 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Shane Lowry blocks out US Open scare stories to stay in contention at Canadian Open
Early scouting reports from the feared Pittsburgh venue have been terrifying, with Rory McIlroy reportedly making a triple bogey on the second hole when he played the course on Monday despite hitting 'three good shots'. Lowry was meant to play but opted to avoid more punishment after the gruelling Memorial Tournament. 'I was supposed to go on Monday, but I didn't fancy beating myself up after a week at The Memorial, so I didn't bother,' Lowry said after carding a two-under 68 in the second round of the RBC Canadian Open to lurk just four shots behind early leader Cameron Champ on eight-under. He knows Oakmont will be far tougher than TPC Toronto, but he's keen not to psyche himself out before he gets there. 'I'm going to block out the noise of what everyone is saying,' Lowry said. 'You read online and think 25 over is going to win, but when you look at the forecast, it's going to rain the first few days. So that's going to make your course probably a bit more playable. 'So we'll see. You just have to take it one day at a time and one step at a time and see what happens.' The world number 12 could not repeat the fireworks of his opening 64, but he was pleased to put himself in position to challenge at the weekend as Champ shot 66 to lead by three shots on 12-under from Thorbjorn Olesen and Richard Lee. Big-hitting Champ took advantage of just his sixth start of the season in Canada, going bogey-free for the second day running as he added to a 66 to his opening 62 to lead by three shots in the clubhouse on 12-under from Thorbjorn Olesen (70) and Richard Lee (64). Lowry is seeking his first win of the season in Canada, but Lauren Walsh is chasing the first of her career after carding a four-under 68 to take a two-shot lead into the weekend in the Tenerife Women's Open. 'I hit the ball really nicely today,' said the Kildare star (24), who made seven birdies and four bogeys to lead on nine under from Singapore's Shannon Tan at Abama Golf. 'I didn't hold quite as many putts as yesterday but I hit the ball great, and it was nice to make a birdie at 17 to get one of their bogeys back.' Walsh bogeyed the first but showed her resilience by making six birdies in her next 10 holes before following bogeys at the 13th and 14th with a birdie at the 17th. Walsh, the only Irish player to make the cut, said: 'Everyone's going to make bogeys. I was just happy I could put it behind me and move on.' In the KLM Open, Conor Purcell shot 74 to miss the cut by a shot at The International in Amsterdam, where Sweden's Joakim Lagergren's three-under 68 gave him the halfway lead on eight-under. In the Swiss Challenge, Alex Maguire shot 68 to lie four shots off the lead on five-under at halfway, with Liam Nolan one under after an even-par 71.
