‘There are no gimmes out there' – Shane Lowry upbeat as he shows US Open form at Memorial
Today at 16:59
Shane Lowry cruised along in the slipstream of a red-hot Ben Griffin and moved into US Open mode by carding an impressive opening 69 in the $20 million Memorial Tournament in Ohio.
As Griffin followed his first individual PGA Tour win in last week's Charles Schwab Challenge with a seven-under 65 to set the early target at Muirfield Village, the Offaly man produced the kind of ball-striking brilliance he will need at fearsome Oakmont in Pittsburgh in two weeks.
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The Journal
5 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
6 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
Irish Independent
8 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Shane Lowry digs deep to remain in the hunt at Memorial Tournament in Ohio
The world number 14 carded a level par 72 at a rain-sodden Muirfield Village to go into the weekend just four shots behind leaders Ben Griffin and Nick Taylor on three-under. While he didn't find as many fairways or greens as he did in an opening 69 and holed little with the blade, Lowry's short game came to the rescue as morning rain made the course a gruelling test. Playing partner Griffin also shot level par to share the lead with Canadian Taylor, who shot 68, on seven-under. They are two strokes ahead of Akshay Bhatia, who shot 69, with defending champion Scottie Scheffler just three shots behind the leaders after a second successive 70. 'Solid day,' Scheffler said. 'If I holed a few more putts, it probably would have been a little bit of a different score. 'I felt like I was hitting my lines out there and did a good job of hitting a lot more fairways today. 'Definitely felt better with my ball striking. So overall, two-under in these conditions was definitely not a bad score today.' Lowry is tied for fifth, just a shot further back on three under, and after making ten of 12 cuts and racking up four top-ten finishes so far this season, he's desperate for his first individual win on the PGA Tour since The Open in 2019. The Offaly man missed birdie chances from between 10 and 12 feet for early birdies at the second, third and fourth before rolling in a seven-footer at the long fifth to get to four under. But with the rain still falling early in his round, he paid for missing the ninth fairway with a bogey, then got up and down from sand for par at the 10th. ADVERTISEMENT As the rain disappeared, he got back on the birdie trail at the par-five 11th, where he rolled in a nine-footer. He was clearly struggling to stay patient after he dumped an eight-iron right into the water at the short 12th. But he fired his third to 11 feet from the drop zone and made the bogey putt. Even after berating himself loudly for slicing into the rough at the par-five 15th, he almost holed his third for eagle but couldn't make the resulting ten-footer for birdie. Despite that, he parred the last three holes to keep the leaders in his crosshairs. Griffin is looking for his third win this season after following his victory with Andrew Novak in the Zurich Classic with another victory in last week's Charles Schwab Challenge. 'I always said, once I got my first win, it would free me up a tonne,' Griffin said. 'My mindset's never changed from before I've won to now. But I'd say I just feel so much more confident in myself and my ability that I've gotten it done.'
