When Shane Lowry teed off on the ninth hole of Saturday’s third round at the British Open, he was a non-factor. By the time he finished the tenth hole, things had changed.
Lowry’s drive on the driveable par-four ninth hole missed the green but found a good lie in the fescue grass off of the green. He took full advantage. Lowry’s pitch took one big hop then rolled towards the hole, finding the bottom of the cup.
Shane Lowry holes it out for an eagle at the 9th! 🦅
The 2019 #TheOpen winner moves to -7 as he makes his way up the leaderboard.
📺: @nbc and @peacockTV
💻: https://t.co/YiRSu9hPWb pic.twitter.com/Yw8zBpw7eW— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 16, 2022
The eagle train didn’t stop there for Lowry. In fact, the 2019 British Open champion was right back on it only one hole later.
Lowry was again just off of the green after one shot on the par-four 10th hole. His pitch shot again took one big bounce and started rolling towards the hole. Then, Lowry had one of the greatest déjà vu experiences imaginable as his shot again found the bottom of the cup for a second straight eagle.
UNBELIEVABLE SCENES!
Back-to-back eagle twos for @ShaneLowryGolf 🦅#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/WF28OPAbow
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2022
Two straight eagles isn’t unprecedented at The Open Championship, but it is rare. Prior to Lowry, the last person to pull this off was Phil Mickelson 21 years ago.
Shane Lowry is the first golfer to record back-to-back eagles at The Open Championships since Phil Mickelson achieved the feat in 2001 at Royal Lytham, doing so on the 6th and 7th holes of his opening round. pic.twitter.com/PmpBTsBH8L
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 16, 2022
Those watching the Open were in awe of Lowry’s achievement.
Running out of superlatives for his short game. Back-to-back pitch-ins on par 4s. Magic hands! (and I've got some money on him, so even better 😃) #TheOpen https://t.co/bsE2Z18Iwe
— Kevin Carpenter (@KevSportsLaw) July 16, 2022
How can you not love this guy? https://t.co/tk3eZAOzZh
— garbage (@oscarstolemycan) July 16, 2022
few players are more fun to root for than @ShaneLowryGolf https://t.co/tJnSK8MevY
— Links Golf Club (@LinksDAO) July 16, 2022
Legend. https://t.co/b8Cd3YItGe
— cpokane (@cpokane) July 16, 2022
Lowry with a lobber is an absolute thing of beauty 😂👏🏼🤌🏼 https://t.co/dZMrV0n1wD
— RICHARD MANSELL (@richardmansel14) July 16, 2022
This is crazy…. #TheOpen https://t.co/ebOZHovAep
— Ebongie (@EbongDi) July 16, 2022
This is what you call links skill…….👇 https://t.co/jrUwJJZ54X
— Martin Dempster (@DempsterMartin) July 16, 2022
Unfortunately for Lowry, he couldn’t quite keep the momentum going. Lowry made bogeys on the 12th, 15th and 17th holes before closing out on a good note with a birdie on 18.
Despite that struggle, Lowry was tied for 12th when he finished his round. Before his first eagle on Saturday, Lowry was not even in the top 25. We’d call that a good step forward and he has his two brilliant chip-ins to thank for it.
[Golf Channel, The Open, ESPN Stats & Info]
