Sometimes all it takes to go forward is to back off just a little bit. That mindset certainly worked for Shane Lowry on Friday at East Lake Golf Club.
Languishing near the bottom of the 30-man field and struggling to get anything going on the front nine while everyone else seemed to be collecting birdies on the continually rain-softened course, Lowry got a little pep talk advice from caddie Darren Reynolds on the ninth tee that kick-started a back-nine 29 and a 7-under 63.
“I had a bit of a slow front nine. I wasn’t playing great, and I made a few great pars. I hit a really poor wedge shot over on the eighth hole from the middle of the fairway. I missed it short right in the bunker, something that I don’t do,” Lowry said. “Darren said to me going down 9, ‘just because everyone else is making birdies doesn’t mean you need to go after every flag; just play your own game, do your own thing.’
“And that’s what I did on the back nine. Freed me up a little bit but it is amazing what happens when a few putts start going in. It was a nice nine holes, nice round, and pretty happy to get myself up there. Obviously, the course is playing pretty soft and easy. The scoring is pretty good. The leaders will go away a little bit, but it’s nice to shoot a low number.”
It was the round Lowry needed after an opening level-par 70 left him tied for 23rd, nine strokes behind first-round leader Russell Henley.
He made birdies at 10, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 18 to reset himself for the weekend, now tied with Rory McIlroy inside the top six and six behind Tommy Fleetwood’s 13-under lead.
The highlight was a 97-foot birdie putt on the 538-yard par-4 14th hole, which he followed with made birdie putts from 21, 8 and 10 feet coming in.
A good day at the office @PGATOUR ☘️ pic.twitter.com/coS5TYuqn8
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) August 22, 2025
“I felt like it was a big stage of the round because I’m 3-under for the day,” he said. “If you don’t two-putt that – it’s a tough two-putt – and if you don’t two-putt you feel under pressure to make a couple on the way in. But that goes in, and it kind of frees you up for the next few holes. And yeah, played the last few holes well, too.”
Under the previous starting strokes system, Lowry would have started the week 10 shots behind Scottie Scheffler and eight back of Rory McIlroy. So instead of being out of it already, Lowry is back in the hunt for the official $10 million prize for winning the FedEx Cup championship.
“I think everyone at my level when they heard about the rule changes were pretty happy, because that means we don’t have to give Scottie and Rory and whoever else is at the top shots,” Lowry said. “This game is hard enough without giving Scottie Scheffler shots. I was pretty happy because then I sort of think to myself, well, I can win the FedEx Cup now.”
Unfortunately for Lowry, the one thing he can’t control is his destiny for an automatic qualification for the Ryder Cup.
He currently occupies the sixth and final qualifying spot for Luke Donald’s European team at Bethpage Black, but nothing he does at East Lake can earn him any points.
Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard could pass him for that automatic qualification with a two-way tie for 29th or better at the Betfred British Masters. Højgaard is tied for 14th halfway through at The Belfry.
“I only found out about that Monday,” Lowry said of the rules change that cut off points from the PGA Tour last week. “I thought I was guaranteed getting points this week. I thought I was going to be pretty much guaranteed on the team. Yeah, I was somewhat disappointed to hear that.
“But the rules were made at the start for qualifying, and that was it. I think I finished four points behind Tyrrell, which is pretty much a shot, which would have been nice.
“But obviously I don’t know what Rasmus is going to do this weekend, but it looks like he’s probably going to pass me up and I’m going to need a pick next week. So hopefully I get a nice phone call off Luke.”
