Shane Lowry moved right into a share of the lead after the third round of the Cognizant Classic with a bogey-free, eight-under round of 63.
Lowry is tied at 13 beneath with Austin Smotherman, who battled his technique to a 69 after three bogeys and 5 birdies led him to his second 69 of the event having scored a robust 62 within the opening round.
Lowry stated his objective going into Saturday – which noticed tee occasions moved ahead as a result of of anticipated unhealthy climate – was simply to get into one of the ultimate two teams for Sunday.
Shane Lowry fought again from his one-under first round of 70, to attain 67 within the second round, and 63 within the third (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
“You want to be near the leaders, keep an eye on them and see what they’re doing,” Lowry stated.
“If the situations are like this tomorrow, there are low scores on the market, so somebody may come from the pack.
“It’s not necessarily easy to lead around this golf course. There’s a lot of very difficult shots. But I’m up there where I want to be. I’ve had a few chances to win this tournament, and hopefully I can convert it tomorrow.”
Lowry was second in 2022 when the occasion was nonetheless referred to as the Honda Classic, dropping the lead in a most weird style on the finish – getting caught in a deluge that wreaked havoc on the ultimate gap. Sepp Straka wound up profitable by one shot, and Lowry wound up getting soaked.
He tied for fifth at PGA National a yr later, had the solo lead going into the ultimate round of the Cognizant earlier than ending tied for fourth in 2024, then tied for eleventh final yr.
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“There wasn’t much wind out there, so there’s certain things that aligned today to make it play easy enough, wind direction being one of them,” Lowry added.
“But you still need to go out there and hit the shots. The greens are firm. It can get away from you if you’re not hitting the ball well. I felt like I did everything pretty good today.”
It appeared like issues tried to get away from Smotherman – who led after the primary two rounds however he held it collectively simply sufficient to complete knotted for the highest spot.
Back-to-back bogeys on the par-4 sixth and the par-3 seventh threatened to throw his round off-stride, however a birdie-birdie end may need given him a bit of momentum headed into Sunday as he seeks what could be his first PGA Tour victory.
Austin Smotherman shot an impressive 62 within the first round however has struggled to duplicate his success since (Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire through AP Images)
Nico Echavarria (66) and Taylor Moore (67) have been a shot again at 12 beneath, and Jimmy Stanger – who’ll earn a verify on tour for the primary time since April 2024, after spending the final two years dealing with severe elbow points – is alone in fifth at 11 beneath after taking pictures a 65 Saturday.
“It just feels good to be back,” Stanger stated. “It feels good to be playing a weekend. It’s been a couple years. It’s good to be healthy. It’s just a cherry on top to be in contention here this week.”
Lowry’s 63 tied Patton Kizzire for the round of the day shifting the American up 45 spots right into a tie for ninth at eight beneath, whereas Keith Mitchell and Beau Hossler each shot 64s to hitch Kizzire, sat 5 photographs behind the leaders.
