Ryder Cup skipper Luke Donald and winning 2014 captain Paul McGinley were seriously impressed by Shane Lowry’s charge to the top in The Open.
As Rory McIlroy joined world stars such as Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Aberg, Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau and Tiger Woods in missing the six-over-par cut, Lowry put on a links golf masterclass to lead by two shots from Dan Brown and Justin Rose on seven-under following a super 69.
“He’s looked brilliant,” McGinley said on NBC. “He’s controlled the ball beautifully in these crosswinds.
“I know Shane Lowry very well and I’ll tell you he’s absolutely chuffed with how he’s played those first two rounds. Every part of his game is in shape.”
He added: “It’s only about a half-hour flight here from Dublin. When he was here a couple of weeks ago preparing, he had this same direction wind in the two days that he played.”
Royal Troon was the big winner as just ten players finished in the red after 36 holes.
“The wind is making these players look like amateurs,” Donald said. “It’s really that difficult out there.”
As for Lowry, Donald added: “What I’m impressed about…he did it with his putter yesterday, today he’s been doing it with his approach play and his driving.
“He’s putting all of his game together and nobody likes these conditions when they’re this tough as much as Shane does.”
Rose (43) also impressed Donald with his determination as he posted a three-under 68 in the worst of the wind.
“His experience (is his strength),” Donald said. “At his age, he’s been there before, he’s been in these situations in these tough conditions.
“I see him going to be around for the weekend and up there having a chance.”
World number one Scottie Scheffler is six behind on one-under but McGinley is not ruling him out.
“He’s like a racehorse,” the Dubliner said. “He just paces himself. They’re never too far off the lead, they get birdies when they can and minimise the mistakes.”
As for McIlroy’s latest major disappointment, former LPGA player Karen Stupples reckons scar tissue is now a problem following his one-shot loss at the US Open, where he missed two short putts coming down the stretch and bogeyed three of his last four holes.
“Every player that’s had close misses like that at majors, it stays with them a lot longer than most people realise,” Stupples said.
“Even just the short misses of short putts of a tournament, it still hangs with you. There’s still baggage.
“There are still putts that I’m bitter about, and none of them were as consequential as Rory’s.”