Shane Lowry sitting in fourth after first day of the Memorial Tournament
Shane Lowry is off to a good start at the Memorial Tournament at Muifield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio after shooting a three-under par 69 to leave him lying in fourth just four shots behind the leader Ben Griffin.
Griffin set the early pace shooting seven-under 65 to st the target for the rest of the field.
The Offaly man picked up three birdies in his first round with the highlight coming on the par-five seventh when he hit an eagle.
Colin Morikawa is five-under just one shot ahead of Max Homa.
Rory McIlroy is skipping the annual event for the first time since 2017.
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Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shane Lowry stormed off US Open course after five holes because it was too hard
Shane Lowry revealed the moment he realised he was out of his depth at Oakmont, walking off after just five holes during his initial encounter with the daunting US Open course. The Offaly man is steeling himself for a comeback to the formidable Country Club to compete in the third major of 2025, two weeks away. Nine years prior, Lowry found himself leading by four shots after three rounds at that very venue, a lead that came after a humbling earlier experience on its challenging fairways. While currently playing at the Memorial Tournament, Lowry shared a light-hearted recount of his first clash with the Oakmont course in Pennsylvania, following his round at Muirfield Village. With a chuckle, Lowry recounted: "I've got a good story about that. The first time I played Oakmont was the Sunday before the US Open 2016. My coach was with me and we teed off on 10. We got around to 14, which is up beside the clubhouse, and I walked in. And I sat there in the locker room going: I have no idea how I'm going to play golf around this place." Lowry, set to return to Royal Portrush in July where he clinched The Open back in 2019, has opened up about his journey from a tough period to leading the pack by 54 holes when the competition kicked off. Although he ultimately secured a joint second place finish behind winner Dustin Johnson, he noted: "Obviously, we got a bit of rain, that was before the rain. It was firm and fast when I played it that Sunday and it was windy. "We got a bit of rain that week. Which helped us. But, yeah, Oakmont, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to seeing what it's going to play like and I'm looking forward to the challenge of it."
The Journal
9 hours ago
- The Journal
Lowry four shots off the lead at Memorial Tournament after second-round 72
NICK TAYLOR CONJURED four birdies without a bogey in a four-under-par 68 on Friday to pull into a tie for the lead with Ben Griffin in the US PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Taylor, who claimed his fifth PGA title at the Sony Open this year, navigated rain-soaked Muirfield Village with little real trouble on the way to a 36-hole total of seven-under par 137. Shane Lowry is four shots off the lead after a second round of 72. Lowry picked up birdies on the fifth and 11th but dropped shots on the ninth and 12th to leave him on three-under heading into the weekend. Follow the leaderboard here 'The iron game was very, very sharp,' Taylor said. 'Putting, made bunch of nice five-, six-footers on that back nine for par.' Overnight leader Griffin, coming off his second win of the season at Colonial last week, had one bogey and one birdie in an even-par 71 to maintain a share of the lead. The leading duo were two strokes in front of American Akshay Bhatia, who carded a 69, with world number one Scottie Scheffler three adrift after his second straight 70 for 140. 'I think everyone would probably say it was kind of a grind,' Griffin said. 'Fortunately, having a later tee time, I didn't have to battle the elements quite as much as some of the early groups. 'But a day like today when it's really wet, I think hitting it in the rough is just even more penal. The ball just kind of goes straight to the bottom with the moisture, and then when there's moisture, it's harder to get to the ball down in the rough. So I had some very tricky lies. 'I got some good breaks on a couple holes where I was in the rough and was able to get it up to the green. So all in all, coming off of yesterday where I made just about everything I looked at, you can't do that every day when you're playing golf.' Taylor coped admirably, getting things moving with a 24-foot birdie put at the fourth hole. He added a two-foot birdie at the eighth and rolled in a 20-foot at the ninth. He grabbed his final birdie at the 13th. Advertisement 'The nice thing was for most of the day my speed was very good, so it was a lot of tap-in pars if I wasn't making birdie,' he said. 'It was nice to keep it as simple as possible.' Bhatia put himself in contention in the signature event hosted by Jack Nicklaus with five birdies. 'I felt like this was the best my iron play has been, ever,' Bhatia said. 'I mean, I hit two flagsticks today and then felt like pretty much anytime where my caddie told me to hit it, I was literally hitting it there. 'So that was really nice.' Scheffler called his two-under effort a 'solid day' despite a double bogey at the 10th. 'I had some good looks on the front nine that I didn't hole, but on the back I rolled it really nice,' Scheffler said. After his double bogey at the 10th — where he was in the rough off the tee and finally three-putted from 43 feet — Scheffler responded with birdies at the 11th and 12th. He finished the day alone in fourth, one stroke in front of Sam Burns, Shane Lowry and Jordan Spieth. Burns climbed the leaderboard with an impressive seven-under par 65, while Ireland's Lowry posted an even par 72 and Spieth carded a 69. Meanwhile in the LPGA, Leona Maguire looks set to miss the cut at the US Women's Open. A second round of 72 leaves her on four-over, three shots off the one-over projected cut line. Maguire's second round started with three birdies on the front nine to give her a chance at progressing to the weekend. But a triple bogey on the 11th hampered her round. – © AFP 2025 Written by AFP and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won't find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women's sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here . Try The 42 for Just €1 Limited-time offer for new subscribers Unlock every article and every podcast The only place to read Murray Kinsella, Gavin Cooney, Declan Bogue & more Specialist analysis that makes sense of the action Weekly fan-favourite rugby, football and GAA podcasts Unmissable sportswriting and features that you won't find anywhere else Get Your €1 Trial Now
The 42
10 hours ago
- The 42
Lowry four shots off the lead at Memorial Tournament after second-round 72
NICK TAYLOR CONJURED four birdies without a bogey in a four-under-par 68 on Friday to pull into a tie for the lead with Ben Griffin in the US PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Taylor, who claimed his fifth PGA title at the Sony Open this year, navigated rain-soaked Muirfield Village with little real trouble on the way to a 36-hole total of seven-under par 137. Shane Lowry is four shots off the lead after a second round of 72. Lowry picked up birdies on the fifth and 11th but dropped shots on the ninth and 12th to leave him on three-under heading into the weekend. 'The iron game was very, very sharp,' Taylor said. 'Putting, made bunch of nice five-, six-footers on that back nine for par.' Overnight leader Griffin, coming off his second win of the season at Colonial last week, had one bogey and one birdie in an even-par 71 to maintain a share of the lead. The leading duo were two strokes in front of American Akshay Bhatia, who carded a 69, with world number one Scottie Scheffler three adrift after his second straight 70 for 140. 'I think everyone would probably say it was kind of a grind,' Griffin said. 'Fortunately, having a later tee time, I didn't have to battle the elements quite as much as some of the early groups. Advertisement 'But a day like today when it's really wet, I think hitting it in the rough is just even more penal. The ball just kind of goes straight to the bottom with the moisture, and then when there's moisture, it's harder to get to the ball down in the rough. So I had some very tricky lies. 'I got some good breaks on a couple holes where I was in the rough and was able to get it up to the green. So all in all, coming off of yesterday where I made just about everything I looked at, you can't do that every day when you're playing golf.' Taylor coped admirably, getting things moving with a 24-foot birdie put at the fourth hole. He added a two-foot birdie at the eighth and rolled in a 20-foot at the ninth. He grabbed his final birdie at the 13th. 'The nice thing was for most of the day my speed was very good, so it was a lot of tap-in pars if I wasn't making birdie,' he said. 'It was nice to keep it as simple as possible.' Bhatia put himself in contention in the signature event hosted by Jack Nicklaus with five birdies. 'I felt like this was the best my iron play has been, ever,' Bhatia said. 'I mean, I hit two flagsticks today and then felt like pretty much anytime where my caddie told me to hit it, I was literally hitting it there. 'So that was really nice.' Scheffler called his two-under effort a 'solid day' despite a double bogey at the 10th. 'I had some good looks on the front nine that I didn't hole, but on the back I rolled it really nice,' Scheffler said. After his double bogey at the 10th — where he was in the rough off the tee and finally three-putted from 43 feet — Scheffler responded with birdies at the 11th and 12th. He finished the day alone in fourth, one stroke in front of Sam Burns, Shane Lowry and Jordan Spieth. Burns climbed the leaderboard with an impressive seven-under par 65, while Ireland's Lowry posted an even par 72 and Spieth carded a 69. Meanwhile in the LPGA, Leona Maguire looks set to miss the cut at the US Women's Open. A second round of 72 leaves her on four-over, three shots off the one-over projected cut line. Maguire's second round started with three birdies on the front nine to give her a chance at progressing to the weekend. But a triple bogey on the 11th hampered her round. – © AFP 2025
