Philadelphia (AFP) – Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Austrian Sepp Straka dueled down the stretch to emerge tied for the lead through 54 holes at the PGA Tour Truist Championship on Saturday, three strokes clear of their nearest rivals. Lowry, the 2019 British Open champion, conjured five birdies with two bogeys for a three-under 67 and a 14-under total of 196. Straka also found five birdies with just one bogey, posting a four-under 66 at a wind-whipped Philadelphia Cricket Club — the pair setting up a Sunday showdown of European Ryder Cup teammates.
“It’s great to see the way the conditions come into it today,” Lowry said. “It was very tough today in those winds, particularly tough to hole putts.”
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American Keith Mitchell started the day with a one-shot lead and settled for a one-over 71 that left him tied for third with compatriot Justin Thomas, who curled in a tough birdie putt at 18 to cap a four-under 66 to join Mitchell on 11-under. Lowry shot out of the gate with birdies at the first and second. He bounced back from a bogey at the seventh with birdies at the ninth and 10th — where he blasted out of a greenside bunker and rattled in a 17-foot putt.
Lowry had been overtaken by Straka by the time he arrived at the 17th, where he landed his second shot from the fairway four feet from the pin and made the birdie putt to regain a share of the lead. Now he’ll fight for his first PGA title since he won last year’s Zurich Classic team event with Rory McIlroy.
“Keep knocking on the door and eventually you’ll go through it,” he said.
Straka got his first taste of the solo lead after birdies at the fourth, seventh, and ninth. After a bogey at the 12th, he birdied the par-five 15th. He was in a fairway bunker off the tee at 17 and left himself 24 feet from the pin but rolled that in for birdie, then made a 16-foot par-saving putt at the last. The sunny, windy weather made for a vastly different challenge after rain earlier in the week.
“It’s fun to see three different ways in our first three days playing here,” Straka said. “Having to try to pick clubs was a lot tougher today than yesterday. It’s been fun on the tee box trying to strategize on a new golf hole every day and trying to figure out the best way to play it,” added the Austrian, who claimed his third PGA Tour title at La Quinta this year.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama was alone in fifth after posting the low round of the day, piling up nine birdies in a seven-under 63 that put him on 10-under 200. McIlroy, who completed a career Grand Slam at the Masters, headlined a group of five players tied for sixth on eight-under 202. McIlroy was charging with birdies at the fourth, fifth, and sixth before a double bogey at the seventh and a bogey at the eighth stalled his pursuit of the leaders. He added one more birdie at the 10th in a one-under 69.
The event was moved from its usual home at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina, because that course — where McIlroy has won four PGA Tour titles — is hosting next week’s 107th PGA Championship. England’s Justin Rose, runner-up in a playoff to McIlroy at Augusta National, withdrew before the third round because of illness, saying on social media he wanted to “focus on a quick recovery prior to next week”.
© 2024 AFP
