[ad_1]
Shane Lowry was unable to build on his positive start and withdrew from contention at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
The reigning Open champion opened with a 68 to share third place after the first round, however the second round 74 saw Lowry drop outside of the top 20 in Florida.
Starting in the last nine, Lowry opened with four pairs in a row before dropping two shots before the turn, bogeying holes 14 and 18.
Clara’s man shot back on the first par four hole before returning a shot on the third to sit at two under for the tournament with six to play.
Lowry bounced back with a birdie on the fourth hole before another shot was dropped on the seventh, and the former Irish Open winner finished with two pairs and a two-under 22 share heading into the weekend.
The third round will see Lowry start seven shots behind Lee Westwood’s lead. The fit Englishman shot 66 to take control of the tournament at nine-under, a shot above compatriot Matthew Fitzpatrick, who has posted 68 consecutive seconds in the unofficial fifth major.
Chris Kirk and former Masters champion Sergio Garcia share third place at seven under par.
Rory McIlroy (+10) and Graeme McDowell (+3) were among the late starters on Friday and both missed the cut with rounds of 75 and 74 respectively.
Westwood, who became Europe’s number one for the third time in December, said: “I think I have played my best golf in the last year and a half and have had good results against quality courses.”
“A win in Abu Dhabi and then finishing second in Dubai late last year to win the Race to Dubai was great to play under pressure and birdie two of the last three holes.
“Last week obviously I was back to playing well under pressure and this week I have kept it.
“The good thing for me this week is not letting last week affect me in a negative way. I have regrouped. I still have the memories of last week, of playing well and hitting good shots when I needed to, but there is no hangover from In the past week “.
Full leaderboard
[ad_2]