Shane Lowry is trying to polish off what he reckons is the second-best season of his profession with an enormous end within the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
The 2019 Open champion mixed some nice ball putting with one other scorching efficiency on the greens, making 145 ft of putts in a six-under 65 to take a seat alone in eighth place on 13-under.
He is perhaps 13 pictures behind runaway chief Scottie Scheffler underneath the staggered begin format, however he’s simply six behind within the non-starting strokes occasion and goals to try to win that to show a very good season into an awesome one.
“I might have appreciated to have received individually,” Lowry mentioned of a season that’s introduced him a win with Rory McIlroy in New Orleans and 4 top-10 finishes, together with an opportunity to win his second Open at Royal Troon .
“Clearly, I received the workforce occasion with Rory. I felt I gave myself a whole lot of probabilities, carried out properly in a few majors.
“I am in all probability as constant as I’ve ever been all through a daily season on the PGA TOUR. So I am fairly completely happy.
“I feel 2019 is a standout yr for me for apparent causes. However I feel this season has been a detailed second.”
Scheffler birdied 4 of his final 5 holes and shot a five-under 66 to steer by 5 pictures from Collin Morikawa, who shot 67, on 26-under.
However Lowry is trying to put strain on the leaders with a scorching last spherical.
With the winner taking residence a $25 million FedEx Cup bonus and with $12.5 million for second, $7.5 million for third, $6 million for fourth and $5 million for fifth, there’s loads at stake.
“Look, Scottie might be going to win,” Lowry mentioned earlier than Scheffler’s sensible end.
“However , successful a event like this isn’t simple. If I could make an enormous push, shoot seven underneath tomorrow and get to twenty, you by no means know,
“These gamers are human as properly. They don’t seem to be robots. So, yeah, we’ll see the way it goes. However for me, it is simply making an attempt to complete as excessive up the leaderboard as I can.
“I believed to myself going into this week, if I can win the precise occasion, , with out the beginning numbers, that can be a fairly good week. So I am doing all proper to date, and hopefully I can end It off.”
As for the important thing to his season, Lowry credit a change of putter in spring as an necessary watershed.
“I wanted a change again in April, Could time after I was actually struggling on the greens,” he defined.
“I made a decision to place a brand new putter in and simply go along with one thing else and get again to placing with a bit extra really feel
“I used to be very lucky I received to spend a few hours with Luke Donald across the similar time as properly, and I received some good pointers off him. It is labored properly for the final 5 – 6 months.
“I’ve received pace drills and holing out drills that I do day by day religiously, and it is made me much more constant.
“And my numbers have been fairly good for the again half of the season as a result of early on the season, I felt like I used to be taking part in nice golf, and I simply wasn’t getting a lot out of it.
“It’s good to see just a few lengthy putts go in. However for me, it is good to really feel assured over the 5 six-footers. After I began to lose confidence, I struggled on these.”
Rory McIlroy is tied for tenth on 11-under after a 68 following a much more constant day.
However Scheffler is the person to beat, and after dropping a six-shot result in McIlroy within the last spherical in 2022, taking pictures 73 to McIlroy’s 66, he’s not specializing in his lead this yr.
“I am simply gonna exit and do my factor and try to execute pictures,” Scheffler mentioned.
“, it is a golf course the place there’s a whole lot of birdies on the market to be made, and so I will be doing my finest to proceed to work my means up the leaderboard, not take into consideration what different guys are doing.
“I’ve had my probabilities right here to win some tournaments, and no higher alternative than tomorrow.
“Going into the spherical, I’m not going to consider it an excessive amount of. I do know the stuff that I am good at, and that’s staying within the second and making an attempt to execute.
“And , I have been mentally at my finest this yr. So I’m wanting ahead to doing extra of that tomorrow.”
