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Lowry’s birdie blitz puts him in pole position on opening day
The Irishman blasted eight birdies without dropping a shot to take a one-stroke lead over Japan’s Kieta Nakajima
New Delhi: Over the past couple of days, players have assessed the Lodhi Course at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) with a fair degree of caution, according to it the respect it deserves and appreciating the quiet challenges that lurk under its beauty. On the first day of the competition, it was clear why.
The shorter yardage and the absence of any water hazards may lead one into believing that going big is the way forward here, but with drivers getting better and players getting stronger, there’s an increased risk of missing the greens and finding one of the many treacherous roughs around the tree lines. Rory McIlroy, among others, had spoken about keeping the driver away, which means the iron play (read club selection), and approach shots (read accuracy) become increasingly important.
No one exemplified it better than Shane Lowry who surged to solo lead on the opening day of the inaugural DP World India Championship on Thursday. By the time the last putt of the opening day was made under hazy skies and a teeming clubhouse, Lowry had carded a bogey free opening round of 8-under (64) to take the pole position on a day where as many as 27 players went under par.
After a sedate front nine that saw him shoot two birdies and make par seven times, Lowry came into his own on the back nine, sinking five consecutive birdies from holes 11-15 before usurping the lead from Japan’s Keita Nakajima on the last hole on which he nailed a four-feet birdie putt.
“I just wanted to go out there and shoot the best score I could. I started to see my lines on the greens and I hit some good shots and any time I got a chance, I converted it. It’s nice to get on a roll like that. It’s been a while since that happened, so it’s nice,” the Irishman said of his birdie spree.
A six-time winner on the DP World Tour, Lowry entered the competition on the back of a missed cut at Open de Espana but a fine outing at the Pro Am put him in a good mental space.
“I played really well in the Pro-Am yesterday (Wednesday), so I was pretty happy with where my game was at. But, I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest,” the 38-year-old, who boasts of a solid iron play, said.
“I just think this type of golf course suits me. You need to shape it around the course, you need to hit in position off the tee and it’s all about your iron play. My iron play is one of my strengths and I took advantage of that today and managed to roll a few putts in on the back nine which was nice. Pins were a bit tricky but if you hit some good shots, the greens were receptive,” he added.
While the evening belonged to Lowry’s sublime approach shots, there was no surprise who the crowd followed in the morning. Rory McIlroy was the undisputed star from the moment he got his competition going on the tenth tee as a crowd of at least 500 walked with him, cheering his every shot and applauding his every putt.
His game, however, did not quite live up to the lofty standards he has set for himself. McIlroy began with a birdie but dropped shots on the next two holes. Birdies on the 14th and 18th, both par 5s, followed as McIlroy proceeded to save a shot each on the 2nd, 3rd, and 7th holes. He missed a three-feet par putt on par 5 eighth to make his third bogey of the day before closing it with a par on the 9th and end the day T-17 at 3-under (69).
“It’s trickier than it appears,” the 36-year-old said of the course.
“You’re just really trying to be as conservative as possible off the tee and then trying to pick off birdies on the par-5s and maybe pick up a couple more here and there. Some of the hole locations early on were really tricky. You play a practice round or a Pro-Am, the pins are all in the middle of the green, and then you get to tournament day and they start to tuck them away a little bit. The course definitely played a little tougher than I expected it to.”
Japan’s Nakajima, who has enjoyed success in India in the past, had no such troubles. The 25-year-old, who coasted to a wire-to-wire victory at the Hero Indian Open at the DLF course last year, shot eight birdies to go with a solitary bogey on the par 4 sixth to finish the opening day at 7-under (65).
“Today was a pretty solid day. I played the PGA Tour in Japan last week, trying to get some energy for this week, and I like the Indian golf courses. I play well in India; in fact whenever I come here, my golf improves,” he quipped.
