1 week Ago By Thomas Bristow
Shane Lowry shared that Rory McIlroy was visibly frustrated during breakfast on Friday morning. The previous day, McIlroy had been 4-under going into the 15th hole but suffered a double bogey after chipping into the water. This misfortune was compounded by another double bogey on the 17th, resulting in him finishing the round at level par and undermining his earlier progress.
After his round, McIlroy appeared irate, bypassing the media to head straight to the practice range. However, he returned on Friday with a determined focus, shooting an impressive 6-under to put himself back in contention, just two strokes behind leader Justin Rose. Lowry, who also had a commendable Friday with a 4-under, had breakfast with McIlroy before the day's round and offered insight into his state of mind.
"I ate breakfast with him this morning," Lowry shared. "We talked about what he did yesterday and he was quite frustrated. I'm sure last night was tough for him.
" However, Lowry pointed out that with plenty of golf still to be played, McIlroy knew he could make a comeback, and his performance on the back nine was a testament to that. When asked about McIlroy's mental state, Lowry said: "Yeah, he's been in a great place all year, for a while now. "Look, he had a six-footer to go 5-under on 14, and an hour later he's on level par, signing for level par.
I can imagine that's pretty frustrating. It's such a quick turnaround that it can help you in a way that you need to just get on with it and get out there today and get after it." Lowry rued a missed opportunity for him and his friend McIlroy to play together on Saturday, admitting, "I thought that," when reflecting on his putt.
"I was thinking about that over the putt. It was a tricky putt downhill and there's like a couple of drops of rain for some reason. I thought I hit a great putt.
I'm happy for him. We both played our way into the tournament nicely." Analysing his round, McIlroy said: "You know, I rushed out of here to get home to see Poppy before she went to bed.
So that was sort of nice to get to see her before she went to sleep. "That's something that I didn't have a few years ago, to be able to get home and have that sort of, you know, take my mind off the golf a little bit. "I feel like I just did a good job of resetting.
I had a good conversation with Bob Rotella this morning, mostly around not pushing too hard too early and trying to get those shots back straightaway. "And you can sort of see how I started today with eight pars and a birdie on the front nine. I just tried to stay really, really patient.
I feel like that patience was rewarded with a nice little stretch there in the middle of the round.".
