Shane Lowry produced a superb round of 63 to power his way to the top of the leaderboard at the Cognizant Classic at Palm Beach Gardens.
Lowry started the day six shots off a lead held by Austin Smotherman, but quickly set about reducing that deficit as he birdied the first, fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth holes to make the turn at five under par.
Another birdie followed on the 10th, and he picked up two more shots on the final two holes on a blemish-free round that moves him to 13 under overall.
The Irishman sits one shot clear of Colombia’s Nico Echavarria and Smotherman, who shot a round of 69.
“Everything went pretty well, especially early on,” Lowry said to the PGA Tour. “I hit the ball on the fairway a lot yesterday and then missed a few early today, but I held a few nice putts at the start and then started hitting the ball really well, gave myself lots of chances and converted a few.
“I thought it was a really nice, solid round of golf. To birdie the last two holes was kind of the icing on the cake. My goal going out today was to get myself in the last two groups going out tomorrow. If the conditions are like this tomorrow, there are low scores out there.”
PA
