Ireland’s Shane Lowry rides fan support to the cusp of Open Championship title

There will be a party in Northern Ireland tonight, as Shane Lowry leads the Open Championship by four after shooting 63 in Saturday’s third round.

Native sons Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke have already gone home, while Graeme McDowell is well back. But on Saturday at Royal Portrush, there was no doubting who the Northern Irish fans were rooting for.

Irishman Shane Lowry, who lives just 130 miles from Royal Portrush, will take a four-shot lead into the final round of the Open Championship after shooting an eight-under 63 in Saturday’s third round.

Lowry, with the boisterous Irish gallery cheering him on throughout the day, started the round tied with J.B. Holmes atop the leaderboard and got off to a good start. He hit a close approach to the par-three third hole, setting up his first birdie. He added two more birdies on the front-nine to go out in three-under 33, but it was on the back-nine that Lowry made a run at history.

At the par-four 10th, Lowry’s drive went left and settled into thick rough. Managing to gouge it out from 191 yards away from the pin, the ball landed on the front of the green, rolled off a mound on the left side and bundled down toward the hole to leave an easy birdie putt.

“Luck of the Irish,” Lowry said with a chuckle to NBC after his round.

He birdied the par-five 12th and the short, driveable par-four 15th before coming to Royal Portrush’s signature hole. The 16th, nicknamed “Calamity Corner,” is a difficult 232-yard par-three. Before Lowry, playing in the final group, got to the hole there had only been one birdie here the entire round. Lowry, though, hit his tee shot 10 feet short of the hole and rolled in the birdie.

After another birdie at the 17th, Lowry needed another on the closing hole to shoot only the second round of 62 in major championship history. He had a good look at it, his putt from 20 feet staying an inch too far to the left and hanging on the edge of the cup. He tapped in for par, his 63 leaving him at 16-under for the tournament and four ahead of Tommy Fleetwood. His 197 total through 54 holes sets a new Open Championship record in the 148th edition of the tournament.

“Obviously, I just had an incredible day on the golf course,” he told NBC’s Steve Sands. “I’m looking forward to sitting down later on and just kind of reflecting on it.”

Lowry was the clear fan favorite on this day, the Irish fans desperate for a native champion in the first Open on home soil in 68 years. They cheered when Lowry’s name was put on the top of the tournament’s signature yellow leaderboard after a birdie. They started singing “Olay, Olay, Olay” when he walked up the 18th fairway. And they went wild every time he hit a good shot or made a putt.

So spectacular was Lowry on Saturday that Fleetwood, who started the round one off of the lead, shot five-under 66 but is now four back. Holmes, tied with Lowry at the start of play, is now six back at 10-under, while Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose are at nine-under in a tie for fourth.

Lowry has had success at home before. He won the Irish Open while still an amateur in 2009. But the 32-year-old has just one PGA Tour win in his career and struggled the last time he was in this position. At the 2016 U.S. Open, Lowry also had a four-shot 54-hole lead before a 76 on Sunday to finish three behind champion Dustin Johnson.

Despite that experience, Lowry admits he’s looking forward to the challenge of finishing off his first career major. “It’s going to be a difficult 24 hours, but there’s nowhere I’d rather want to be,” he said. “Look, I’m very excited for tomorrow. Four ahead in the Open Championship in Ireland, I don’t know what to say.”

He might be at a loss for words, but the Irish fans spoke for him today.