It's been an acrimonious few months for golf with the arrival of the Liv Tour. But an amusing exchange between Shane Lowry and Justin Thomas this evening was a pleasant reminder of the camaraderie that exists between golf's best players
The 2019 Open champ was placed in a top drawer grouping this week that featured reigning PGA winner Thomas and Viktor Hovland.
These rounds at St Andrew's - especially in the evening - have proven very, very long. Lowry teed off at 3:10pm today and didn't finish up until after 8pm.
It's good to see that some bonding occurred during these marathon rounds.
Right after Thomas struck a beautiful drive on 18 - one of the most famous holes in golf - Lowry couldn't resist a little dig.
Listen close and you can hear Lowry say, "Most improved" over the on-course microphone.
Justin Thomas topped his tee shot on 18 Thursday. Little better during the 2nd round.
Shane Lowry: “Most improved.”
JT: “Shut the f*** up.”
🤣🤣 #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/BvKPu2WEjG— The Plugged Lie (@PluggedLiePod) July 15, 2022
That's because Thomas had made an absolute mess of his drive on 18 during Thursday's round.
Thomas fired back immediately, by saying "shut the fuck up" with a laugh.
Lowry would birdie the hole, while JT would finish with a par.
Lowry is usually the one who is caught swearing on the microphones. This time the shoe was on the other foot.
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Shane Lowry climbs The Open leaderboard
It was an eventful round for Lowry, quite unlike the 72 he shot yesterday. The Clara man had six birdies, and though he double-bogeyed the 16th, he finished birdie-birdie on 17 and 18 and finds himself four under par in a tie for 25th.
Thomas finished on 70, and sits at two under par.
The field will be chasing Australia's Cameron Smith, who is thirteen under par after an eight-under par round of 64 today.
Rory McIlroy is in the thick of it after shooting a four-under par round today. He's three shots off the lead and will play with Dustin Johnson tomorrow.
An emotional Tiger Woods missed the cut but was in tears coming up 18, for what is likely his final Open at St Andrew's.
He told the BBC how much he appreciated the respect shown by his golfing brethren.
"As I walked further along the fairway, I saw Rory [McIlroy] right there. He gave me the tip of the cap. JT [Justin Thomas] did the same. It was pretty cool. The nods I was getting from guys as they were going out and I was coming in, that was pretty neat," he said.
