Shane Lowry’s historic 62 at Valhalla helps him emerge as PGA Championship contender

Shane Lowry’s historic 62 at Valhalla helps him emerge as PGA Championship contender

Shane Lowry almost set the major championship scoring record on Saturday at the PGA Championship, coming inches away from doing so. However, he settled for a bogey-free, 9-under 62 and shot up the leaderboard in the process.

He matched Xander Schauffele’s first-round score, as Schauffele became the first player to break 63 in a PGA Championship. As such, Lowry and Schauffele now own the course record at Valhalla, breaking José María Olazábal’s 63 that he shot during the third round of the 2000 PGA Championship.

Yet, this championship marks the second time in a 12-month span that a major has had multiple rounds of 62. Last year, Schauffele and Rickie Fowler shot 62 in the first round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club.

“I enjoyed every minute of it, obviously,” Lowry said of his round.

“Probably the most disappointed anyone can ever be shooting 62. I knew what was at stake. Didn’t hit the ball hard enough. Had it on a good read and broke away from the hole. Look, I went out there with a job to do today, and my job was to try to get myself back in the tournament, and I did that.”

Lowry had a good look at birdie on the 18th green from 11 feet, which would have put him into the history books. But he just missed.

Alas, his historic round got off to a roaring start with the Irishman birdieing four of his first five holes. He followed that up with a birdie at the 7th and the 9th to go out in 29 strokes—six under par.

Lowry would tack on three more birdies at 13, 14, and 17, with the first two coming from over 30 feet.

Those long-range makes explain why he leads the field in strokes gained putting. Lowry is picking up more than 11 shots on the greens this week, a preposterous figure and the best on the PGA Tour through three rounds so far this season, per Justin Ray of The Athletic.

On Saturday alone, he picked up 6.4 strokes with his flat stick.

These improvements with the putter go back to New Orleans, where he won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. But before that, Lowry made a putter change.

“I’ve sort of changed how I’ve been practicing the last two weeks, sort of getting away from the technical side of it and just trying to hole putts and doing a lot of drills,” Lowry explained.

“It’s nice to finally see a few going in the hole because it’s been a slow year for me on the greens. It’s been nice to see it this week. Look, when I got here, I saw the greens. The greens are beautiful. They’re a nice pace to hole putts. It was nice to see a few going in.”

The 37-year-old jumped 27 spots on moving day, thanks to his hot putter.

“I thought if I could get to double digits, that was my plan,” he noted.

“If I could shoot 65, I felt like I’d be there—I’d need another at least 65 tomorrow if I did that. That’s what I wanted to do, but a few better is nice.”

He already has one major under his belt with his famous Open Championship victory at Royal Portrush in 2019.

Since then, the 3-time PGA Tour winner has come close but has not gotten over the hump.

“I’ve been fortunate to do it before, and to win one is pretty good, but to win multiple, you’re kind of at a bit of a different level,” Lowry said.

“There’s a long way between now and that. We’ll go out tomorrow, and I’ll go out and give my best. I’ve been in this position a few times before, learned from Oakmont and tournaments like that, and brought that into Portrush. Hopefully, I can bring some of that with me tomorrow and give it everything.”

Lowry must wait until the third round ends to determine which grouping he will play in on Sunday. Regardless, he will lean on his experience from Royal Portrush to help him finish the job on Sunday and win his first PGA Championship.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.