Lowry and McIlroy fire each other up as both jump to front of field at Bay Hill
COMING OUT FIRING: Shane Lowry is in a tie for second at Bay Hill. Pic: AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy once again proved to enjoy one another's company as they fired their way towards the top of the leaderboard on a testing Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Opening day at Bay Hill saw just 14 of the elevated field of 72 going under par. Among that select group were the Irish duo, paired together for the opening two days.
Lowry enjoyed the round slightly more than his close friend as his opening 69 put him into a tie for second on three-under. The Offaly native fired an eagle and three birdies with just two bogeys. McIlroy's card was much more up and down, a half dozen birdies offset by four bogeys as he sat a shot further back in a tie for sixth as he tries new equipment this week with the PGA Tour season about to get busy in a hurry.
One of McIlroy's old foes, 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark, held the opening day clubhouse lead on five-under after a sparkling 67. There was a sour end to both Lowry and McIlroy's Thursday when the pair bogeyed the 18th.
"I think the guys that teed off a little later got a little bit of a reprieve," McIlroy said afterwards. "It was still breezy, but not quite as tough as the guys got it this morning.
"I think it demands good ball striking. You have to really control, especially today, control your flight and distance very well with your irons. That's something that I've been working on quite a lot and feel like I'm pretty good at that. I think that's the big thing.
"There's not a tonne of drivers out there, you can get away with being a little more conservative off the tee. But it's a great second-shot golf course and I feel like that's why I've excelled here."
Elsewhere England's Jordan Smith fired a bogey-free 63 on his return from injury to share the lead after the first round of the Joburg Open.
Two-time DP World Tour winner Smith carded seven birdies in favourable scoring conditions on Thursday to sit alongside China's Wenyi Ding - who also posted a flawless opening round - at the top of the leaderboard on seven under par.
Englishmen Marco Penge and Callum Tarren were part of the five-way tie for third, one shot behind the leaders.
Smith, who had not teed it up since withdrawing from the Qatar Masters last month, said: "It was just nice to finally get a round under our belts after an unfortunate last couple of weeks.
"But yeah, just really nice. Like I say we haven't really played much golf the last couple of weeks due to a few injuries but I'm really happy."
