Shane Lowry arrived at the Cognizant Classic as the odds-on favorite, a worthy honor considering he has finished among the top-5 in the last three years at this event.
Shane Lowry continues Cognizant Classic success with back-to-back chip-ins
Irishman Shane Lowry showed off his short game, chipping in twice to move up the leaderboard at PGA National.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
He’s accurate off the tee, a good ball striker, and has an otherworldly short game, three attributes required to succeed at PGA National. But on Friday, it was his play around the greens that helped him move up the leaderboard.
He chipped in for birdies twice, on back-to-back holes no less, to move up the leaderboard and closer to Jake Knapp, who fired an opening 59 to grab control of the tournament on Thursday. Lowry sits at 8-under at the midway point.
“I played okay, but yeah, 6 and 7 were just bonus really,” Lowry said.
“Where I am on 6, you’re probably hoping to make par, and par the 7th and maybe give yourself a chance on 8 or 9, but to chip in on those two holes was definitely [a bonus].”
Lowry’s first hole out came from 41 yards short of the pin. He missed the fairway off the tee and laid up in the short grass in front of the green. Then, on the par-3 7th, Lowry short-sided himself with the front left hole location. But it was no issue, as he knocked that in too.
One hole later, on the 414-yard par-4 8th, Lowry missed a short birdie from inside 10 feet.
“I sort of felt like today anytime I hit a good shot I missed the putt, and anytime I hit a bad shot I chipped in,” Lowry said.
That’s golf in a nutshell — it’s the whackiest sport that produces the wildest outcomes. You never know how a round will play out, but at the end of the day, it’s not “How?” but “How many?” that counts the most. No pictures exist on the scorecard.
Lowry ultimately signed for a 3-under 68 and is within striking distance going into the weekend. Perhaps a fourth straight top-5 at this event is in store.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
