LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Some players try to ignore the significance of a particular shot or putt, but not Shane Lowry. The Irishman knew exactly what was at stake late Saturday at the PGA Championship.
Having scorched Valhalla Golf Club’s opening nine with six birdies, Lowry needed a birdie at the par-5 final hole to become the first man to shoot 61 in a major championship.
“The ball was kind of sitting up in the rough,” he said after pushing his drive at the 18th hole right of the fairway. “I had 170 yards from the fairway to the other side of the water, and I probably could have [reached the green], but it felt like it was maybe a silly decision to go for it under the circumstances.”
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After hitting a “poor” layup, Lowry hit a wedge to 12 feet but failed to convert the birdie putt and settled for a third-round 62, the second 62 shot this week and just the fifth in a men’s major championship.
“When you go out in 29, you think, wow, I have a good day going here,” he said. “I think when I holed the putt on 14, I was like, here we go, yeah, this is a good chance [to shoot 61]. Yeah, it was in my mind from about 14 onwards.”
Xander Schauffele opened the week at Valhalla with a first-round 62 to match the score he shot during the first round of last year’s U.S. Open. Rickie Fowler also posted a 62 last year at Los Angeles Country Club on Thursday. Branden Grace was the first to reach 62 in a men’s major at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
For Lowry, the consolation for not holing the birdie putt for a 61, was a spot near the top of the leaderboard at 13 under par, which was two shots off the lead when he completed his round.
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