The Open: Shane Lowry’s scorching hot putter leads to career first

Shane Lowry looked unbeatable at Royal Troon on Thursday at the Open Championship.

The 2019 Open Champion carded a bogey-free, 5-under 66 in brutal conditions. He trails Daniel Brown, who fired off a bogey-free 6-under 65, by one shot as he sits in solo second.

Only 17 players fired under-par scores during the first round, a testament to the 25-mile-per-hour winds that blew across Royal Troon. Very few players kept a clean scorecard, too.

But Lowry’s preparation for this tournament is why he is towards the top of the leaderboard after day one. He played many practice rounds early and took advantage of his later tee time.

“I’m very happy. I went out there—lucky I watched a lot of golf this morning and saw that the golf course was not playing easy,” Lowry said.

“I tried to go out, play my game, hit some good shots, and hole a few putts. I did that, and I’m pretty happy.”

The Irishman had 25 putts after the first round, tied for first among the field. He made three birdies in six holes on the front nine to turn in 33 shots, a 3-under par score.

Lowry made another par-breaker on the 11th, and his final birdie came on the 18th.

He explained that a trip to Royal Troon two weeks ago helped him adjust to these greens.

“Sometimes I struggle when I come back from playing a season on the PGA Tour with the speed of the greens,” Lowry said.

“I got here, and I played a couple of practice rounds here, and I was really happy with how my speed was… I wasn’t struggling to get the ball to the hole because sometimes I can be like that. My speed control was very good, and I saw my lines great. I feel like links greens when you start to see your lines, the hole feels quite big, so it felt like that today, and long may it continue.”

This 66 marks his lowest first-round score in a major championship. In 2019, at Royal Portrush, Lowry shot a 67 that first day. While he was happy with the score, the 37-year-old stayed realistic.

“It’s only one day. We’ve got three more days,” Lowry said.

“I kept telling myself that out there because, for some reason, I felt like the crowd was getting very excited. They were quite excitable, and it felt more like the weekend. I kept telling myself there’s a lot more to do, and there’s a few days left, so I stayed in my lane and hit some good shots, and I was pretty happy with how I handled myself.”

Lowry said he would give anything to win this tournament again but does not want to look ahead. This first-round score will mean nothing if he does not play well in the next three days.

So, it appears the Irishman will keep himself grounded, as 54 holes remain Normally, Lowry likes to have an early round on Thursday and a late one on Friday, but he has the opposite this week. It is a quick turnaround that will allow him to get after it.

The conditions will be similar at The Open for Friday’s round, too.

“If they are, it’s not going to be easy, and pars are going to be good. That’s kind of the game plan,” Lowry said.

Lowry tees off at 4:47 a.m. ET for the second round with Cameron Smith and Matt Fitzpatrick. He looks to build off this 66 and vie for his second Claret Jug.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.