Shane Lowry will be in need of a quiet Saturday night and a right good lie down after the conclusion of his third round at Royal Troon.
The Irishman dropped a whopping six shots as he badly fumbled his second-round clubhouse lead at The 152nd Open Championship.
Out in the worst kind of weather that the Ayrshire coast could conjure up, Lowry registered five bogeys – including on the 18th – as well as a double-bogey through eight, as he carded a score of 77.
It was a wonderful display of his golfing ability on the front nine overall though, as he produced some solid shooting, birdieing the fourth, and reaching a highly impressive eight under par.
A chaotic end for the final few games saw a plethora of changes to the leaderboard, with as many as nine players all under par heading into the fourth and final round on Sunday.
“I am, but it's hard now,” Lowry conceded about his chances of lifting the Claret Jug. “Like I've just finished, and I really wanted to hole that one on the last. I knew Billy made bogey, and I knew Dan was obviously going to make double. I mean, I would have been two back. Three back, you're still right in the tournament.
“This is going to take me a couple hours to get over today, and yeah. I'm obviously pretty good now, but I have a job to do tomorrow and a similar chance to win this tournament.
“Just hard because I felt like I played unbelievable golf today. Missed the first fairway and then didn't miss another fairway until 16. Hit some great iron shots, just didn't hole the putts early on when I had the chances, and then I missed a few par putts.
“On the way in, I felt like I couldn't make a par. Obviously it was hard. It's harder in that situation, but it is what it is.
“There's no doubt I'm going to go out there tomorrow thinking I can win the tournament, but it's just hard right now. You have to give me a bit of leeway.
“Ten minutes ago I had to putt for par on the 18th green, and I'm here talking to you guys now trying to figure out how I shot 77 in my own head. Like, yeah, this game is just hard, and now you feel how hard it was for playing well the first two days in those conditions. Honestly, it was brutal.
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“I guess for me the 8th hole was killer really, make par there, and you can still shoot 3 or 4-over from there and still be leading the tournament. Just pulled my wedge shot there.
“Look, I don't really know what to say. It was a grind. It wasn't much fun.
“Driver, driver into 15. 16 playing ridiculously long. Driver into 17. Then you're standing on the 18th tee wondering if you can actually hit the fairway, if you can reach the fairway, and it's 230 yards to the fairway. Bear in mind my driver pitched about 220 yards on the 17th hole. So, yeah, it's not much fun out there.”
Lowry can't have faced many tougher days during his professional days.
He couldn’t give a definitive answer on that question just moments after coming off the course, though.
“I don't know,” he responded. “Circumstantial as well, it's obviously very difficult. But you'd have to question why there wasn't a couple of tees put forward today, to be honest. I think 15 and 17 -- like 15 is 500 yards playing into that wind, it's - yeah, they keep trying to make holes longer, yet the best hole in this course is about 100 yards.”
The Herald’s coverage of The 152nd Open at Royal Troon is brought to you in association with Fairmont St. Andrews.
