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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Eamon Doggett

Shane Lowry surges into Open contention with successive eagles

Shane Lowry had surged into contention at the Open Championship after back-to-back eagles on par fours.

Lowry cut a frustrated figure over the opening two rounds at St Andrews as his four-under-par total after 36 holes was enough to make the cut but saw him nine shots behind leader Cameron Smith.

The 2019 champion started slowly on a day of low-scoring on the Old Course, but his round came alive on the ninth hole.

Having pulled his drive left on the driveable par four, Lowry had a 43 yard pitch from the rough to negotiate.

READ MORE: Shane Lowry pokes fun at Justin Thomas and gets F-word response from American

Playing a driven pitch, the ball checked up after a couple of bounces before releasing out to find the bottom of the cup.

The Clara man is famed for his supreme short-game skills and he showed it again on the very next hole.

After a 323-yard drive down the tenth, Lowry was out with the wedge again and sensationally holed out once again - this time from 46 yards.

It is believed that Lowry's back to back eagles on par 4s in the Open has never happened before. And he was the first to make back-to-back eagles at the Open in 21 years, since Phil Mickelson did it at Royal Lytham.

Successive eagles had Lowry five under for his round through ten holes and at nine-under-par just four shots behind Smith.

Rory McIlroy is about to tee off in the second last group of the day alongside Viktor Hovland, with the 2014 champion just three shots back.

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