Shane Lowry opened up on his US Open struggles after missing the cut at Shinnecock Hills. The Offaly man failed to make the cut at the third major of the year after shooting a three-over-par 73 for the second day in a row to finish on six-under for the tournament, two shots off the cut. “I’d love to know what’s going on, and I’m beating my head against a brick wall,” Lowry said following the disappointment. “I felt like I rolled the ball pretty well.
I felt like I did a lot of things well, and I’m going home Friday evening. It’s pretty s***, to be honest.” Lowry’s second round included three bogeys and two birdies, but it was a double bogey on the 11th after chipping above the hole that really hampered him. “You just know if you miss the putt, you’re going to look like a f**king eejit,” stated the 29-year-old. “Unfortunately, that’s what golf courses and tests like this do. It’s gettable out there. But if you
get the wrong side of the hole . . . “I hit a couple of bad shots, and you get penalised very quickly. So it’s tough, but golf is just not agreeing with me at the moment. I’m not enjoying it. I didn’t have any fun this week. “It’s not like I’m shooting 85. Two 73s is not great, but it’s here and there, a couple of shots, a little bit sloppy on the par fives, and all of a sudden I’m not shooting good
scores. It’s not far away, but it’s hard to tell yourself that at times.” Lowry added: “I find the course very hard, to be honest. Like, it is as easy as we could have played for the last two days. “It’s a very stressful golf course and a hard course to come play and put yourself out there on a pedestal in front of the world. “You’re there for the taking when you’re out there, so I find it pretty hard.” Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy endured
a torrid back nine in treacherous conditions, allowing second-round leader Wyndham Clark to pull clear of the Masters champion. Just as McIlroy looked ready to mount a genuine title challenge, his round fell apart in spectacular fashion. Missing a six-foot birdie chance at the turn — which would have kept him within three shots of the 2023 champion — turned out to be the least of the world number two’s worries. With the wind picking up considerably, McIlroy repeatedly misjudged his distances, flying the greens
at the 10th, 11th and 12th to drop a shot at each hole. A brief spark of hope came via back-to-back birdies — nearly holing his 108-yard approach at the 13th for a straightforward tap-in, before sinking a scorching 40-footer to nudge back to two under par, reports Belfast Live . However, another overhit approach at the 15th preceded a recovery chip that refused to hold, trickling into a bunker and yielding his group’s first double bogey of the tournament, playing alongside Ryder Cup colleagues
Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Aberg. That painful setback dragged him back to level par, seven shots off Clark’s pace — yet, given Shinnecock’s fearsome reputation, still well within striking distance in a share of 10th place. His front nine had been far more composed, delivering seven pars and birdies at the fifth and eighth for an outward 33, though his inward 38 left him with a one-over 71 — well below what he had hoped for. “If there’s a course where you feel like you
still have a chance if you’re seven back going into the weekend like I am, it’s definitely this one,” McIlroy remarked. “I know that everyone else in the field is going to make bogeys so if I can limit my mistakes and pick off a few birdies here and there, hole a couple more 20 to 25-footers than other guys, that’s really the strategy. “You can’t go chasing pins around here. You can’t try to be too aggressive; today for me was a prime example.
“I was a little too aggressive to the pin on 11, a little too aggressive to the pin on 12 – all of a sudden just two bogeys in a row out of nowhere. “I think you still have to play smart, try to keep the ball under the hole, hit it into the middles of the greens and take your chances when they present themselves.” Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the top stories and biggest headlines from Ireland
and beyond .
Shane Lowry, US Open, Shinnecock Hills, missed cut, Offaly, Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark, Masters champion