Shane Lowry fires up his home crowd with course record at Amgen Irish Open

Perhaps all Shane Lowry needed to dig himself out of his recent rut was some home cooking.

Lowry delighted the home crowd by making birdie at half the holes on Friday at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel, Ireland, Doonbeg, to open a three-stroke lead at the Amgen Irish Open over Haotong Li, Jacob Skov Olesen and Niklas Norgaard.

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The 39-year-old burly Irishman, who won his national title as an amateur in 2009, signed for 8-under 62 to improve to 11-under for the tournament and set a new 18-hole course record at the Greg Norman-designed layout.

“It was nice. It was real fun out there,” Lowry said. “I got off to a nice start and then I just kept going. I felt great out there. Just kept my foot on the gas and tried to keep hitting good shots and keep holing putts.”

Lowry backed up an opening 67 on Thursday by taking advantage of gentler conditions en route to posting his fourth ever 62 on the DP World Tour.

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“It’s amazing what he’s doing. He’s no stranger to it,” said Rory McIlroy.

Lowry’s assault on par began when he made three birdies in a row from the third, including a 22‑footer at the fourth, before adding three more circles on the card in a row beginning at seven to make the turn in 30.

He made a solid par save at 10 but dropped his lone shot of the day at No. 13.

“I liked the little birdie I made on 15 after the mistake I made on 13. Also, I think my par putt on 10 was probably my highlight of the day. After getting pretty unlucky with my second shot, I think I did a great job making par there,” he said.

Lowry is winless this season and failed to make it past the first playoff event in the FedEx Cup. He hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish since March 1 at the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic, and has dropped out of the top 50 in the world.

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Haotong Li, whose eagle-birdie-birdie run from the 10th lifted him into contention, signed for 7-under 63 and made the cut in an Irish Open for the first time since 2015. He was tied for second with the Danish pair of Skov Olesen and Norgaard, who both shot 64.

Rory McIlroy shot a second straight 69 and sits T-20 in his title defense after a poor putting performance.

“Frustration. I just didn’t have it on the greens. I really struggled to read them,” McIlroy said. “Tee to green I feel like I’m right there … So if I can do that and just see a couple go in, then hopefully it’s a different story”.

Padraig Harrington, who set a record with his 31st career start in the Irish Open, missed the 36-hole cut.

Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the PGA Tour.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Shane Lowry fires up his home crowd with course record at Amgen Irish Open