Rory McIlroy pulling for Shane Lowry as Cognizant Classic heads for Monday finish

Rory McIlroy knows a Monday win “would mean a lot” to Shane Lowry and vowed to cheer on his close pal from afar as he bids to end his near five-year PGA Tour drought in the weather-delayed Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.

The world number two believes he’s close to putting the complete package together after a poor week on the greens at PGA National saw him close with a bogey-free 68 but finish tied 16th in the clubhouse on 10-under, four behind clubhouse leader Erik Van Rooyen.

The Holywood star was relieved to finish his final round before play was suspended but he admitted he’s thinking about his close friend Lowry, who has work to do to win one of his favourite events after he played his first five holes of his final round in one-over after a three-and-a-half-hour weather delay forced a Monday finish.

The Offaly man is tied for fourth, three shots behind Austin Eckroat, who birdied the fourth and fifth to lead by a shot on 15-under from Van Rooyen through seven holes.

“It would mean a lot,” McIlroy said of a Lowry win. “He loves this place, and he’s always played well at this golf course.

“I said to him earlier, at least it gets him out of the Monday pro-am at Bay Hill tomorrow, so he doesn’t have to deal with that.

“I’d love to see him win. I’m going to be keeping a close eye and cheering for him, and hopefully he gets the job done.”

McIlroy will be at Seminole for the member-guest event today but he believes he’s close to putting the complete package together after a poor week on the greens led to “a nearly week” at PGA National.

The world number two led the field for ball striking but while he was 65th for putting, he believes he’s close to his A game with just six weeks to go to the Masters.

“A week that could have been,” McIlroy said after a week where his triple bogey seven at the 16th on Saturday severely dented his chances.

“I felt like most of my play was a bit better than what the result suggested. That bad hole on 16 yesterday, a few sloppy mistakes here and there.

“Overall the game seems to be trending in the right direction. I drove the ball great again this week. I led the field in strokes gained off the tee at Riv. Probably going to do that again this week.

“That’s the foundation of my game. When that’s good, I just need some of the rest of the pieces to fall into play. Hopefully they can over the next couple weeks.”

The Holywood star has a busier-than-ever pre-Masters schedule and will follow appearances at Bay Hill and in The Players at Sawgrass with an appearance in the Valero Texas Open the week before the Masters.

“This has been a little stop-start since the Middle East, so looking forward to getting on a run of events here,” he said.

While he missed a five-footer for birdie at the 18th in fading light as he rushed to finish just after the hooter sounded, McIlroy was pleased to finish.

“I’m really happy I got done today because it means I can join my dad in the most important day of his year tomorrow at Seminole,” he said of the famous member-guest event that attracts many top pros.

“I guess it’s the life that I wanted. It’s the life that I’ve asked for. I’m not going to stand up here and complain. This is what I want to do. I like being busy.

“I try to not – no one likes being me more than me, so that’s sort of the attitude that I like to go with. I’m busy, but I like being busy when it’s stuff that I want to do.”

Lowry will resume his final round at 8am local time (1pm Irish time) facing a 206-yard approach to the tough sixth from the fairway.

As for Eckroat, who tied for 10th in the US Open last year but is still seeking his maiden PGA Tour win, the 2021 Walker Cup star is happy with the lead.

“I felt like I was a little shaky at the beginning but was able to knock in some pars,” he said. “To get the birdie on four and five was great, and really put myself in a good position for tomorrow.”

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