Shane Lowry sent the St Andrews crowd wild not once, but twice after holing out back-to-back eagles during the third round of The Open Championship.
Lowry headed into the weekend with ground to make up, after Australian Cameron Smith stormed into the lead at 13-under across day one and two. And the Irishman has certainly made his move as he chases down a second Claret Jug after chipping in for two eagles in as many holes midway through his Saturday outing.
Lowry’s heroics came either side of the turn, after carding back-to-back twos on nine and ten. The first came from the most unlikely of situations, after he found the thick rough down the left-hand side following a wayward tee shot on the ninth.
Throughout his impressive career, Lowry has been known for his magical short game and his second shot here was the perfect example of that. Hitting from out of position, the 2017 champion jammed his shot out of the burnt out St Andrews ground, hitting the green before taking two hops and dropping into the hole.
Those watching around the green burst into celebration - as did Lowry, who raised his arms into the air before sharing a big fist pump in the first of his two touches of class midway through his round. Just one hole later, the Irishman was taking on St Andrews’ often tricky short par fours again.
This time his set up was much better, as he crushed one down the middle to leave a much simpler chip this time around. Once again, lob wedge was in hand and Lowry hit a trademark links golf shot, bumping it into the front of the green before letting it release and remarkably finding the bottom of the waiting cup.
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The cheer second time round was even louder, as Lowry was left celebrating back-to-back hole-out twos to move him a remarkable four shots closer to the leader in the space of just two holes. Even Lowry’s playing partner Nicolai Hojgaard enjoyed it, after the youngster was seen willing the ball in, before joining the celebrations after the ball dropped.
After starting the day two under, the Irishman’s remarkable first 10 holes saw him to nine-under for the tournament and seven-under for the day, leaving him within four shots of leader Smith.
