Shane Lowry has seemingly left himself with too much to do going into the final round of the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday to win the event for the second time in his career.
Shane Lowry is one of the players looking to get ready for the Ryder Cup at the BMW PGA Championship. The 2019 Open Championship winner received a captain’s pick for Bethpage Black from Luke Donald after a fairly mixed year on the PGA Tour.
Lowry has plenty of happy memories around Wentworth, having won the DP World Tour‘s flagship event back in 2022. On that occasion, he finished one shot clear of both Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.
Unfortunately for the Irishman this time around, it seems that he is just a little too far back with 18 holes to play. Lowry is currently tied for 31st at seven under par, eight shots behind the leaders, Alex Noren and Adrien Saddier.
But it could have been a little different for Lowry had he not passed up a couple of superb late opportunities during his third round.
Shane Lowry explains why he was very disappointed after his third round at the BMW PGA Championship
As Lowry approached the 13th tee, he was four under par for the day. However, his four at the 12th would prove to be his final birdie of the day.
And speaking to Sky Sports after his round, he admitted that not making the most of the final two holes put something of a dampener on the day.
“I put myself in position these last few holes to make a little run and put myself up closer to the lead. Middle of the fairway, well down on 17, middle of the fairway, well down on 18, to finish with two pars is always very disappointing,” he said.
“But a bogey free 68 is decent. I feel like I’m hitting the ball well, I feel good, my driver feels good. My irons haven’t been as good as I would like this week, but when I get on the greens, I’m starting to hit my putts at the hole. A lot of them have a chance of going in, so I’m happy with what I see there as well.”
Shane Lowry explains his magical approach on the ninth hole at Wentworth
While Lowry was not at his best on Saturday, he did still manage to produce a moment of magic at the halfway stage of his round.
The 38-year-old found himself blocked out on the ninth hole after missing the fairway to the right. But he managed to hit the most delicious draw from 180 yards through a gap in the tree line to the collection area just to the left of the green.
Remarkably, Lowry played down just how impressive the shot actually was.
“I hit a poor drive, and to be honest, I saw the gap straight away so I started to move the people. There’s a gap there, it looks better on TV. But it’s amazing, you just see the shot. There was a lot of people in the way, and I knew that I couldn’t go left and then I had a look and I just saw the gap so I just started to move them,” he said.
“I always say when I go down and have shots like that, if I’m in a practice round or a Pro-Am, I go for the shot all the time and I more than likely pull it off. When I see the shot, I generally hit a pretty good one. So I’ve seen the shot straight away. Thankfully, my caddie knows my game and he knows that when I see a shot most of the time, I’m pretty good at pulling it off.”
Lowry has not been on top form of late. However, that self-belief he has in his capabilities is going to be so important at Bethpage with the American fans likely to try and make the atmosphere as hostile as possible for the visitors.
Thankfully for Donald, Lowry has shown throughout his career that he is someone who relishes the big stage.
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