Early scouting reports from the feared Pittsburgh venue have been terrifying, with Rory McIlroy reportedly making a triple bogey on the second hole when he played the course on Monday despite hitting “three good shots”.
Lowry was meant to play but opted to avoid more punishment after the gruelling Memorial Tournament.
“I was supposed to go on Monday, but I didn’t fancy beating myself up after a week at The Memorial, so I didn’t bother,” Lowry said after carding a two-under 68 in the second round of the RBC Canadian Open to lurk just four shots behind early leader Cameron Champ on eight-under.
He knows Oakmont will be far tougher than TPC Toronto, but he’s keen not to psyche himself out before he gets there.
“I’m going to block out the noise of what everyone is saying,” Lowry said. “You read online and think 25 over is going to win, but when you look at the forecast, it’s going to rain the first few days. So that’s going to make your course probably a bit more playable.
“So we’ll see. You just have to take it one day at a time and one step at a time and see what happens.”
The world number 12 could not repeat the fireworks of his opening 64, but he was pleased to put himself in position to challenge at the weekend as Champ shot 66 to lead by three shots on 12-under from Thorbjorn Olesen and Richard Lee.
Big-hitting Champ took advantage of just his sixth start of the season in Canada, going bogey-free for the second day running as he added to a 66 to his opening 62 to lead by three shots in the clubhouse on 12-under from Thorbjorn Olesen (70) and Richard Lee (64).
Lowry is seeking his first win of the season in Canada, but Lauren Walsh is chasing the first of her career after carding a four-under 68 to take a two-shot lead into the weekend in the Tenerife Women’s Open.
“I hit the ball really nicely today,” said the Kildare star (24), who made seven birdies and four bogeys to lead on nine under from Singapore’s Shannon Tan at Abama Golf.
“I didn’t hold quite as many putts as yesterday but I hit the ball great, and it was nice to make a birdie at 17 to get one of their bogeys back.”
Walsh bogeyed the first but showed her resilience by making six birdies in her next 10 holes before following bogeys at the 13th and 14th with a birdie at the 17th.
Walsh, the only Irish player to make the cut, said: “Everyone’s going to make bogeys. I was just happy I could put it behind me and move on.”
In the KLM Open, Conor Purcell shot 74 to miss the cut by a shot at The International in Amsterdam, where Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren’s three-under 68 gave him the halfway lead on eight-under.
In the Swiss Challenge, Alex Maguire shot 68 to lie four shots off the lead on five-under at halfway, with Liam Nolan one under after an even-par 71.
