Lowry sets the course record with a
62 at Doonbeg and builds a 3-shot lead in the Irish Open
[September 12, 2026]
DOONBEG, Ireland (AP) — Shane Lowry finally had a great day
with the putter and made the most of it Friday by setting the course
record with an 8-under 62 at Trump International Ireland to build a
three-shot lead going into the weekend at the Irish Open.
Lowry went from wanting to get off the course as quickly as possible
in the wind-blown opening round to wishing a day like this wouldn't
end. He made birdie on half of the holes and was hitting his irons
so well that only three of the birdies were outside 10 feet.
“Every time I kept making birdie, I just kept going, wanting to
birdie the next,” Lowry said. “I felt like I was in control out
there. So it was good fun. It's been awhile since I've had that much
fun on the golf course, so I'll take it.”
He was at 11-under 129, three shots clear of Haotong Li (63) and the
Danish duo of Jacob Skov Olesen and Niklas Norgaard, who each shot
64.
Li also enjoyed a spell of good weather on the Doonbeg course along
the Atlantic coast after Thursday when the wind was so strong it
took some six hours to play. The first round had to be completed
Friday.
“Yesterday was kind of like a little bit bad weather. Even some of
the 3-feet par putts, I felt like they were shaking,” Lie said. “But
today it was kind of like birdie heaven.”
That wasn't the case for defending champion Rory McIlroy, pleased
with his game from the tee until he had the putter in his hand.
McIlroy struggled to read the greens, and the 18th summed up his
round of 69 when he three-putted from 4 feet for bogey, missing a
20-inch par putt.
“It’s hard whenever you struggle to read them,” McIlroy said of the
greens. “And then when you do get over the ball you’re trying to
trust what you’re seeing, but everything else that you have seen
hasn’t went the way you thought.”
McIlroy was nine shots out of the lead and bracing for more rough
weather over the weekend, when President Donald Trump is due for a
visit.
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Shane Lowry of Ireland, lines up a putt on the 18th green during the
second round of of the Irish Open golf tournament in Doonbeg,
Ireland, Friday Sept. 11, 2026. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
Lowry made three straight birdies starting with a
4-footer on the third hole, and he closed out the front nine with
another string of three birdies. Key to his momentum was a 10-foot
par save on the 10th, followed by two more birdies that put him at
8-under par for the round through 12 holes and had the 2019 British
Open champion thinking about breaking 60.
That thought lasted one hole — he three-putted from 18 feet for
bogey on the 13th.
Joaquin Niemann, the 18-hole leader, had to settle for a 70 that
left him six shots behind. Patrick Reed, the American who leads the
Race to Dubai, had another 68 and was seven shots back. Jon Rahm had
a 67 and was another shot behind at 3-under 137.
Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka, playing for the first time
in a month, holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 66 to
make the cut on the number.
Lowry won the Irish Open in 2009 as an amateur, and McIlroy said he
was not surprised to see him with another chance at Doonbeg.
“He believes he’s a good player in windy links conditions, so I
think that’s half the battle is believing that you are or knowing
that you are,” McIlroy said. “I think he feels like he has an
advantage when the conditions are like that. And that’s the way he
sees the game.”
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