Shane Lowry Unravels in the Worst of Saturday's British Open Weather

The 36-hole leader and former Open champ shot 77 to fall three shots off the pace in an afternoon that saw drivers hit on par-3s.

Shane Lowry, pictured Thursday, fell from the lead Saturday at Royal Troon with a 6-over 77. / Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports

TROON, Scotland — Shane Lowry was understandably a bit out of sorts.

He had just come off the Royal Troon course, bewildered, frustrated, annoyed. That he spoke to reporters when having just holed his final putt was impressive. Lowry clearly needed some time to decompress.

“Hitting drivers to par-3s is not much craic,” said the Irishman, meaning it wasn’t a lot of fun.

The entire day wasn’t for the 2019 British Open champion at Royal Portrush, where it also rained considerably.

The difference Saturday at Royal Troon was the gusting winds and the cold temperatures and some brutally long holes on the final nine that saw Lowry and Daniel Brown hitting drivers to the par-3 17th hole and barely being able to carry it to the fairway at the 18th.

“Roll back the ball, huh? Yeah,” Lowry said mockingly, somewhat missing the point of that debate, but his irritation understandable.

Teeing off last, he played in the worst of the conditions for the entirety of the day. Lowry actually played quite well for the first seven holes, even though it was windy and rainy and difficult.

But he went from leading the tournament at 7 under to trailing by three after a 77, with Billy Horschel in the lead by one over six players. Lowry is in ninth place.

As late as the 11th hole, he was still tied for the lead.

Things began to unravel for Lowry when he missed a makeable birdie putt at the relatively benign par-4 7th. At the time, he was 8 under par and led by two strokes.

His wedge shot approach at the par-3 8th found a bunker and led to a double bogey. He made five bogeys on the back nine.

“Obviously, there is no doubt but that I am going to go out there tomorrow thinking I can win the tournament, but it is just hard right now,” he said. “You have to give me a bit of leeway. Ten minutes ago, I had a (30-foot) putt for par on the 18th green, and I’m here now talking to you guys, trying to figure out how I had a 77 in my own head.

“This game is just hard, and you nearly feel hard done by for playing well the first two days in those conditions. It was honestly brutal. I guess for me, the 8th hole was a killer really. Get par there and you can still shoot 3 or 4 over from there and I would still be leading the tournament.

“I just pulled my wedge shot there. I don’t really know what to say. It was a grind. It wasn’t much fun.”