Shane Lowry and Austin Smotherman share the lead at the Cognizant Classic as they head into Sunday’s final round.
Lowry shot a brilliant 63 on Saturday, while Smotherman finished strong with back-to-back birdies for a 69.
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The two will tee off together in the final group, setting up an intriguing finish at PGA National.
Lowry spoke positively about his third round and is expected to be confident heading into Sunday.
His experience sets him apart from others near the top of the leaderboard. Still, Smotherman has been playing well and will back himself to stay in contention over the closing stretch.
Austin Smotherman shares thoughts on final round pairing with Shane Lowry
Photo by Raj Mehta/Getty Images
Smotherman finished up his third round at Palm Beach and spoke to the press about what it means to share the final group with Lowry.
“Yeah, I remember playing with him in Hilton Head one time,” the 31-year-old American said.
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“I don’t know if it was – I think it was a weekend round because it was just one day. It wasn’t Thursday-Friday by any means because he’s obviously in a little better pairing than I would have been in.
“I think it’s going to be just good energy having a name like that in the final group, especially for Cognizant and everybody here. Palm Beach native, here we are in the heart of it at PGA National. I get to put my name next to his and go battle him all day.
“That’s probably the thing right there that I need to probably step back and realize is that it’s not me versus him or anything like that. Looking at the leaderboard, it’s so jam packed, and yeah, him and I kind of got to 13, but the number of guys today that I saw on the board that was like 11, 11, 11, 11, 10, 10, 9, it’s like, this golf course, you stay patient, you make your pars, putts will go in.
“Take care of the par-5s like I’m doing, which has kind of given me some freedom on some of these other out-of-position shots, and I’m sure Shane has done the same exact thing just in his own way and had a great round today. I don’t know what he started at. Did he shoot like 64? Yeah, it was definitely out there today.
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“I had my kind of mistakes and held on and felt like I had to figure some things out, and did, just to get my 2-under par. He was feeling it. Everything is even tomorrow. Go play some golf.”
Shane Lowry’s experience advantage over Austin Smotherman
Smotherman will need to be careful not to let the occasion turn into a head-to-head with Lowry, especially given how crowded the top of the leaderboard is.
There are 18 players within six shots of the lead, so this final round could go in any direction.
If he gets too focused on matching Lowry shot for shot, that could play right into the Irishman’s hands. Lowry has been around long enough to thrive in that kind of setup.
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The positive for Smotherman is he seemed aware of that dynamic when speaking to reporters and knows he cannot afford to lose sight of his own game plan.
If he continues playing as he has all week, there is every reason to think he will be right there at the finish. He just needs one more solid round on Sunday.
The final pairing tees off at 1:45 PM local time. With so many players still in contention, it should make for a great watch down the stretch.
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