Shane Lowry has admitted that his record at the Arnold Palmer Invitational is "horrific" as he takes sole lead over the field after round one. Lowry is in the lead at the prestigious Invitational in Bay Hill, Florida after a first round 66 to leave him on -6.
Lowry went off on the back nine, scoring birdies on the tenth, eleventh, thirteenth and seventeenth as well as scoring an eagle on the par five twelfth hole. The putt for birdie on the thirteenth was another Lowry special as he slotted home from about 20 feet to take the lead.
Alone at the top.@ShaneLowryGolf takes the solo lead with his fourth 3 in a row. pic.twitter.com/Ae0bV6knOH
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 7, 2024
Shane Lowry on his patchy record at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Lowry doesn't have the best track record at the Arnold Palmer - in fact, last year was the first time he made the cut in the tournament having missed it on all five previous occasions he played at Bay Hill.
Speaking after his stunning Thursday round, Lowry was open about his previous struggles on the course:
It's horrific. My best finish here is tied 67th or something.
I played here six times, I missed the cut five times. Last year I made the cut and shot 81 on Saturday and finished tied 67 or something around there. Going out there with very low expectations today. I knew I was playing well. Golf's a funny game.
But, yeah, it's one of these places where some people love it. I've struggled with it over the years. I come here, it's a nice place to come, it's a good, obviously a great tournament, a huge tournament, and I'm very happy with that today. Maybe that's the kind of score I need to shoot around here to just give myself the confidence to go out and play my game around here.
Shane Lowry is playing on a sponsor invite for this tournament after competition sponsors Mastercard sent him one as he is a Brand Ambassador. It's something Lowry is grateful for and he's taking advantage of.
Well, I'm very fortunate, I built up a great relationship with Mastercard over the years. I'm an ambassador, so, yeah, very fortunate to get an invite that way. I'm, obviously, happy to get the invite, and hopefully I can take advantage of it now.
Lowry was on similar form last week at the Cognizant classic and had a share of the lead heading into the final round. That tournament too was held in Lowry's now home state of Florida. When asked if he appreciates playing in Florida, Lowry admitted that it took time to get the hang of it.
I remember coming over here in my first tournament in Florida was the Honda Classic in maybe 2014, around then. I remember, like, I hated the grass, I really struggled. Bermuda grass is not for me, I thought. When I moved down to Florida and started playing more and more, week in, week out on the stuff, it's, I figured out a way to do it and, yeah, I quite enjoy Florida golf now.
Shane Lowry's record @APInv:
Cut
Cut
Cut
Cut
67th
1st (thru 18 holes)"Golf's a funny game." pic.twitter.com/oRHqourTMc
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 8, 2024
Lowry is still looking for his first win on the PGA tour since The Open in 2019 but with form like this it shouldn't be long until we see him celebrating again.
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