Orlando, Florida – Shane Lowry loves intense testing and is on display at Bay Hill. He had six birdies on Friday with five under 67 and took a two-shot lead at Arnold Palmer’s invitational.
It’s not as cold as the day before. The wind is very small. Wyndham Clark, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele are on display at different times, and Bay Hill still has some bites.
Lowry played with good friend Rory McIlroy, covering a 35-foot birdie putt on the 13th and closure with 18-foot birdie to lead with two Clarks.
Corey Conners (70) and Collin Morikawa (68) were three shots behind, followed by Russell Henley (68), McIlroy (70) and Jason Day, who reunited with long-time coach Colin Swatton and scored a minimum score of 64 games.
“I think it’s my iron show good and conservative,” Laurie said in an explanation of why his test was tough. “I’m like the ‘par’ grinding, you know? There are a lot of weeks here shooting the level par for nine holes here, and you feel like you’re jumping your head on the wall. And for weeks like these, the par for nine levels is nine, and you’re actually not bad. You don’t have a happy day.
“I like that golf type, and whenever you break 70, you feel like you have a good time.”
Lowry scored below 136, the only player in the field to break 70 times in two days.
Eighteen players have been in the weekend’s attitude, and Schaffler is happy to be one of them. He had a tough time in his first nine games, especially on a double bogey on the second hole of the three-shot second, when he missed a 30-inch putt.
Defending champion Scheffler, without bogey on the back nine, took two putts on 5 and ended with a 15-foot birdie with a 72-shot. He was seven behind.
Clark sailed along a beautiful record and stepped forward with a shot when Lowry missed a 4-foot par putter on the 16-16-point 16. That didn’t last long. Clark hit his boundary on the 15th and had to make a 20-foot putt to escape the double bogey.
“I don’t know if I ever hit a double bogey,” Clark said. “I was angry with the tee shot, and I knew it was important to keep the momentum. Any shot was important. I wouldn’t have fists that way, but to me it was more of an internal thing like ‘Let’s Gook!’ and gave me the last three holes of motivation.”
Schauffele had a back-to-back double bogey and answered three birdies in the next four holes. He finished the game with 71 and scored a 12-shot lead, but the double champion could win the 2022 Masters with the 58th straight layoff.
Schauffele is the first year since the first year since the Kapalua Sentinel began, taking a break to heal intercostal pressure and slightly torn cartilage in his right ribs. He didn’t expect to return to golf immediately. He also doesn’t want to leave on Friday either.
His caddie, Austin Kaiser, joked that it only took four years to capture 142 Tiger Woods’ records from February 1998 to May 2005.
This is equally impressive. The winning streak is the longest sixth in PGA Tour history, second only to Woods, Byron Nelson, 113, Jack Nicklaus (105), Hale Irwin (86) and Dow Finsterwald (72).
“There is no doubt Austin and I are proud of our tailors,” Schauffele said. “Is this our idea? No. But usually when you focus on winning, you make a lot of cuts and end up in between.”
Justin Thomas took double bogey from the bunker on 14-point 3, which slowed his momentum down, even though he recovered 70 as two birdies in the last three holes.
Clark shared a 36-hole lead at Bay Hill a year ago and finished second. Lowry shared a 54-hole lead with Schefller and finished third. Last year was Lowry and Clark’s first breaking 70 at Bay Hill, so they seem to have figured it out.
This is not guaranteed to be too much.
“It’s fun when you’re successful – especially in such a difficult place – it doesn’t mean you’re here next year and you have the God-given right to go and do it well,” Laurie said. “You still have to play the game and execute it. So I realize that. Although it’s much easier today than yesterday, this golf course still doesn’t give you anything.
“I think when you start seeing some nice shots here, it’s easier for you to start seeing some putts.”
The real grinding comes at the end of the day. The 36-hole cut to the top 50, with the tie at 148 4 points, and several players were on the bubble. Lucas Glover abandoned a 10-foot birdie putt on the 16th and shot one shot below the line when he cut from the green on the 17th.
Max McGreevy responded with two shots below the tangent line and on the 15th with an 18-foot birdie putt, on the 16th with a two shot, on the 17th with an 18-foot par putt.
This left behind 51 players from the 72-man field, all chasing Lowry.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
