Shane Lowry confessed “a couple too many glasses of wine” made all the difference as he fired a five-under 66 haul himself back into the mix in the acciona Open de España in Madrid.
The Offaly man is running low on energy in his ninth start in 11 weeks. But after failing to make a birdie in high winds in a opening 75, he loosened up over dinner with Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton and made five birdies in a bogey-free effort at a blustery Club de Campo to jump to tied 23rd on one-under.
The world number 29 is nine shots behind Spain’s Angel Hidalgo, who added a 67 to his opening 65 to lead England’s Joe Dean by four shots on 10-under.
But he’s is just four shots outside the chasing group in third place on five-under that includes Patrick Reed and favourite Jon Rahm.
“You know, I’ve been on the road a lot lately, and I think it was getting to me yesterday a little bit,” said Lowry, who picked up an early two-putt birdie four at the fourth before following four birdies in a row from the seventh with a clutch seven footer for par at the 16th.
“I relaxed a little bit today and went out there and played freely. I don’t like missing cuts, so I went out there and tried my hardest and thankfully it was a good day.”
Smiling, he added: “If I’m honest, I had dinner with Tyrrell Hatton last night, and we had a couple too many glasses of wine. So maybe that made me play a bit freer today, and I went out and just played carefree.”
Rahm shot 69 and Reed a 66 to share third with Julien Guerrier, Sam Bairstow and Alfredo Garcia Heredia but Lowry looks to be enjoying himself.
“It’s a good test of golf,” he said. “It’s old school golf. You need to shape your ball and to keep the ball in play, and small greens, and it’s kind of refreshing to play that as well.”
In the weather-delayed Swiss Golf Challenge, Cormac Sharvin shot a three-under 69 and Gary Hurley a 71 to share 15th on one-under with Conor Purcell, who was three-over after three holes when play was suspended, just three shots behind clubhouse leader Robin Sciot-Siegrist.
Meanwhile, Lauren Walsh’s three-over 74 left her six shots behind fellow rookie Chiara Tamburlini in the Lacoste Ladies Open de France at halfway.
She was still tied for eighth on one-under at Golf Barriere in Deauville with Douglas’ Sara Byrne joint 24th on one-over after a 72.
At the First Stage of the weather-affected DP World Tour Q-School at Horsens in Denmark, Galway’s Liam Nolan shares the lead on eight under heading into the final round.
The event has been reduced to 54 holes with amateur Max Kennedy tenth on five-under and Mark Power a shot further back in 12th, a shot inside the top 18 and ties who progress.
At Golf de Lery Poses in France, Ronan Mullarney is 16th on five-under after a third round 70 with Conor O’Rourke’s 72 leaving him just a shot outside the mark on four-under.