LEADER LOWRY KEEPS THE DREAM ALIVE WITH STUNNING 65

Home favourite Shane Lowry leads the Amgen Irish Open at Trump International, Doonbeg. (Photo: DP World Tour/Getty)

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Shane Lowry will take a commanding four-shot lead into the final round of the Amgen Irish Open at Doonbeg, rekindling memories of his stunning triumph at County Louth in 2009 when he burst onto the scene as an amateur to claim his national Open title. 

The 39-year-old has come a long way since then, with an Open Championship (2019) as well as three Ryder Cup appearances packed into the intervening 17 years. But the affable Offaly golfer would love nothing more than to add another Irish Open title to his golfing CV.

He put himself in pole position to do just that with a fine third round 65 at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel, Doonbeg, for a 16 under par total of 194, moving him clear of his playing partner Jacob Skov Olesen whose 66 gave him second spot on his own on 198.

Chilean Joaquin Niemann occupies third on nine under par 201 after a 66 while Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin and Daniel Rodrigues of Portugal share fourth on seven under par 203; McKibbin carding a 68 while Rodrigues matched the leader’s 65.

“I felt like I did a great job today of just staying in the moment and playing my own game,” said Lowry. “I had, so much fun out there on the back nine. The crowds were incredible. They cheered me on the whole way home and hopefully will do the same tomorrow.

“It would mean a lot [to win]. But for this evening I'm going to try to not think about it. I'm going to have a nice evening, hopefully get some sleep and get out there tomorrow afternoon.

“Hopefully the crowd gets on my side and I can put on a good show for them again and shoot a good score and do what I'm supposed to do. I'm leading my home tournament and it would mean the world to knock this one off.

The day definitely belonged to Lowry who put in a fine performance in front of watching US President Donald Trump, the owner of the Doonbeg Estate, who arrived mid-afternoon from Dublin as part of his current trip to Ireland; the first US President in history to attend a DP World Tour event.

For a spell, however, it looked like Skov Olesen might be the man to take the lead into Sunday, the 27-year-old Dane moving level with Lowry at the turn thanks to a flawless outward half of 31, the highlight of which was an eagle three at the 571 yard eighth.

Turning for home however, Lowry turned up the heat to thrill the fervent Irish fans with gains at the tenth, 12th and 15th as Skov Olesen’s birdie run dried up. Even when birdies were not on offer, Lowry was rock solid on the greens, draining par putts of 12 feet at the 17th and six feet at the last to drive home his advantage.

While hopes of a home triumph remained strong at the top of the leaderboard, hopes of a repeat victory for Rory McIlroy diminished after the defending champion slipped back following a third round 74 for a two over par total of 212 and share of 50th spot going into the final round.

Much of the damage was done for the Masters champion in an error-strewn outward half of 40 which featured double-bogey sixes at both the third and sixth holes.

“I didn't give myself as many chances as I did yesterday but the chances that I did give myself, same thing,” said McIlroy. “Feel like I'm hitting good putts, they're just either misreads or just burning the edges. I think there's a great buzz around the tournament because Shane's up there and leading. So hopefully he keeps it going. That would obviously be great for Irish golf.”

ROUND THREE SCORES:

194 S LOWRY (IRL) 67 62 65,

198 J OLESEN (DEN) 68 64 66,

201 J NIEMANN (CHI) 65 70 66,

203 D RODRIGUES (POR) 69 69 65, T MCKIBBIN (NIR) 68 67 68,

204 R FISHER (ENG) 70 67 67, P REED (USA) 68 68 68, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 69 67 68, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 72 63 69, H LI (CHN) 69 63 72,

205 K KOBORI (NZL) 68 67 70,

206 S BAIRSTOW (ENG) 69 70 67, A FITZPATRICK (ENG) 69 70 67, B WIESBERGER (AUT) 71 67 68, M STEINLECHNER (AUT) 66 72 68, A MERONK (POL) 68 70 68, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 72 65 69, R NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN) 69 67 70,

207 L DONALD (ENG) 73 67 67, M MANASSERO (ITA) 74 65 68, G DE LEO (ITA) 74 65 68, U COUSSAUD (FRA) 72 66 69, P WARING (ENG) 70 68 69, J DANTORP (SWE) 69 67 71, N NORGAARD (DEN) 68 64 75,

208 J WINTHER (DEN) 70 70 68, L NOLAN (IRL) 72 68 68, M WALLACE (ENG) 73 67 68, R PARATORE (ITA) 68 69 71, C HILL (SCO) 70 67 71, E FERGUSON (SCO) 69 66 73,

209 F LAPORTA (ITA) 70 71 68, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 68 70 71, J RAHM (ESP) 70 67 72,

210 J MORRISON (ENG) 71 69 70, J GIRRBACH (SUI) 69 71 70, S GARCIA (ESP) 75 65 70, B STONE (RSA) 69 70 71, J SENIOR (ENG) 72 67 71, D BRYANT (USA) 74 65 71, F CAPAN III (USA) 71 67 72, C SYME (SCO) 68 70 72, D LAW (SCO) 68 69 73,

211 P LARRAZABAL (ESP) 71 70 70, B KOEPKA (USA) 75 66 70, D MICHELUZZI (AUS) 71 69 71, J DEAN (ENG) 69 70 72, R MANSELL (ENG) 76 63 72, D HILLIER (NZL) 69 69 73,

212 E CHACARRA (ESP) 72 69 71, J VEERMAN (USA) 72 69 71, O LINDELL (FIN) 70 70 72, S MAZZOLI (ITA) 75 64 73, H DU PLESSIS (RSA) 74 65 73, R CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 68 71 73, R MCILROY (NIR) 69 69 74,

213 J RITCHIE (RSA) 69 72 72, A DEL REY (ESP) 70 70 73, S S?DERBERG (SWE) 75 64 74,

214 S STRAKA (AUT) 71 70 73, A HIDALGO (ESP) 75 66 73, T VAILLANT (FRA) 69 72 73, S NORRIS (RSA) 67 73 74, S CROCKER (USA) 73 66 75, N LEMKE (SWE) 71 68 75, N KIMSEY (ENG) 71 67 76,

215 H HALL (ENG) 70 70 75,

216 F MOLINARI (ITA) 72 69 75,

217 D VAN DRIEL (NED) 71 70 76,