TROON, SCOTLAND | In the early afternoon of Friday, Shane Lowry lowered himself into a chair in a marquee near Royal Troon’s sturdy stone clubhouse. A smile played around his face as he tugged absent-mindedly at his beard. He was the mid-afternoon leader of the 152nd Open Championship and was justifiably feeling pleased with himself Lowry, 37, of Ireland, had gotten perhaps the best of the weather, starting late in Thursday’s first round at 2:59 p.m. and early-ish in Friday’s second round at 9:47 a.m., and his rounds of 66 and 69 totalled 7-under par. From the comfort of his chair, he noted how the wind was rising and rattling windowpanes and kicking up flecks of white on the sea only a few yards to the right of the opening holes.
The average score of those who played in the morning was 73 and those in the afternoon was 75. Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, was one of only three competitors who had played 18 holes on Thursday without a bogey, and he continued that bogey-free run until the fifth hole of his second round. One dropped shot on that 220-yard short hole, which was played into a fickle, gusting wind, and two on the notorious 11th, known as the Railway because the Ayr-to-Glasgow line runs parallel with it, were his only blemishes.
At the 11th, Lowry was distracted by a cameraman as he played his second shot and hit his ball across the fairway and into a gorse bush. He played a provisional ball, only for his original to be found, and so had to play that one. After dropping out under penalty, he ran up a 6 on the par-4 hole. It had taken him 28 minutes to play the hole, what with consultations with rules officials. “To be honest, I was happy enough leaving there with a 6,” Lowry said. “It wasn’t a disaster. I was still leading the tournament.”
“Shane is a very authentic, very solid person. There is a lot of humanity and goodness in him. – Philip Quinn
It was often said that Darren Clarke, the Northern Irishman who won the 2011 Open Championship, had the build to withstand the wind and perhaps rain of a seaside course. He was, as someone once observed, a solid citizen. In a wind, Clarke would widen his stance, shorten his swing slightly and give the ball a mighty punch. In build, Lowry is like Clarke: broad-shouldered and sturdy, brisk to the ball and over it, and it takes quite a strong wind to move him. When Lowry won the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush, he battled through rain and wind without being unduly affected by either. The difference between these two Open champions is that Lowry’s swing is longer than Clarke’s and more languid. With a short iron in his hand, Lowry has a rare touch. He takes a longish swing, gives the ball a bit of a flick and sends it on its way to its target, often very accurately.
Lowry speaks to a rules official on No. 11, a hole that took Lowry 28 minutes – and six strokes – to play. Stuart Franklin, R&A via Getty Images
And his putting is not bad, either. He birdied the par-4 first in the second round, having attacked the hole with a 3-wood from the tee when many of his rivals were using long irons. He wedged to within tap-in distance for birdie at the par-5 fourth, then birdied the 117-yard par-3 eighth, known as the Postage Stamp because of its small size, from 11 feet. He birdied the 16th by reaching it in two, and he holed from 20 feet for another birdie on the 18th to get to 7-under. He has the characteristic that some big men in golf have, namely that he is able to play very soft and delicate shots. It is striking how quietly he holds the club when he putts. It’s as if he were cradling an injured bird.
