Shane Lowry always wears his heart on his sleeve, it is who he is, and the contrast in emotions – wide smiles after an eagle, an anguished look after a double-bogey – told its own story.
In a mixed bag of a second round in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the Ryder Cup hero slipped to three strokes off the midway pace set by Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai in the penultimate event of the DP World Tour’s season.
A second round 69 that featured an eagle, five birdies, a double-bogey and back-to-back finishing bogeys summed up Lowry’s up-and-down round that saw him head into the weekend on 11-under-par 133 in tied-sixth and still in contention but with a requirement to cut out those costly errors that materialised late on if he is to add to the 2019 title he won in the emirate.
Rory McIlroy – seeking to close out a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy for winning the order of merit of merit, with only Abu Dhabi and next week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai remaining – shot a second round 68 for 136 in tied-20th, six adrift, while Tom McKibbin’s 69 for 144 left him in tied-66th in the no-cut field.
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An undistinguished front nine, one birdie and eight pars, had Lowry seeking a moment to kick-start. It came on par 5 11th where his iron approach shot, not the cleanest of strikes, nevertheless stayed low and straight and crept to 12 feet for an eagle putt which he sank to follow up bis birdie on the 10th. Another birdie, from seven feet, on the par 3 13th moved him into the thick of contention.
However, a double-bogey six on the tempting short par 4 – where his tee shot hung right for a watery grave – brought a knock-back to which he responded with back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th only for closing bogeys on the 17th and 18th to leave a sour taste to finish and work to do over the final 36 holes to play catchup on the English ducatch-uptwood – who started birdie-birdie-birdie – shot a second round 66 to add to his opening 64 where Rai was the reverse in adding a 64 to his opening 66 for the pair to share the 36-holes lead on 14-under-par 130 in near ideal scoring conditions on the Yas Links course hard by the Gulf of Arabia.
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The in-form Fleetwood – who won the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and won the Indian Championship last month – remarked: “I feel, obviously, good about my game and I’m doing so many things well. But I’m also very aware of what the game can do to you as well. I’ll just stay very focused on each day. I’m having a lot of good rounds but I’m not stupid, and it’s bitten me enough times. I’ll enjoy these good ones but stay focused and continue to do the right things and keep it going as long as possible.”
Fleetwood, who had seven birdies and a bogey in his second round, added: “I’ve always tried to get to the end of the year and feel like I’m doing a lot of good things. I’m still really motivated. I really want to play well. I still have things that I want to achieve even with six rounds of golf to go into the season.”
