LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Moving day is a reality.
This isn’t just a cute, quirky phrase the PGA Tour came up with as a marketing slogan.
It’s real.
The same goes for two players playing well and helping each other within a gaming group.
Just ask Shane Lowry and Justin Rose.
Lowry started the third round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla on Saturday in a tie for 29th place, eight shots out of the 36-hole lead. He teed off 1 hour and 39 minutes before the last leading group.
Then he went out and climbed the leaderboard, much like the great horses who ran the inside rail at nearby Churchill Downs in past Kentucky Derby races.
Lowry, the 37-year-old Irishman, shot a nine-under 62 and was thrown into history with a birdie putt on No. 18 for a 61, a number that had never been recorded in major championship history.
By the end of the day, Lowry was at 13 under par, just two strokes behind leaders Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa, as he bids to win the second major of his career after winning the British Open in Portrush in 2019. became.
Alongside the threesome Lowry, Rose shot a 7-under 64 to reach 12 under par and is well positioned for his second career major victory, following his 2013 U.S. Open win at Merion.
Australia’s Jason Day was the group’s third wheel. He shot a 2-under 69 on Saturday and left the course looking like he’d been robbed.
The first and second rounds on Thursday and Friday are for advancing and securing tee times and positions for the weekend.
Saturday’s third round is a “moving day.”
Lowry and Rose moved. Hey, did they move?
“Obviously, every moment was fun,” Lowry said. “Shooting a 62 was probably the most disappointing thing I’ve ever done. I knew what was at stake.”
What was the fateful final putt?
“I really wanted to open the hole, but maybe I went too far,” Lowry said. “I decided to take a step back and enjoy the moment. It was a really cool moment. It would have been a really cool moment if we could have signed the deal and made it happen. [I] I just didn’t hit the ball hard enough. I was reading a lot and just got out of the hole. ”
Lowry then added: “Look, I came into the game today with a job to do. My job was to get back in the tournament, and I definitely did that.”
So did Rose, who later joked that his round was “pretty average compared to Shane.”
“I had a weird feeling I was going to score 61 today,” Rose said. “I felt like it was going well somehow. There was a good energy there. You feed the crowd too. The crowd was starting to get interested in what the day was about. They could see that I was doing well. They could see that Shane was doing well.
“When you smell the leaderboards, you get a little bit more tense. It keeps you focused, it keeps you hungry, and it keeps you going.”
Lowry said his goal for the day was simple.
“If I could get to double digits, that was my plan,” he said. “I felt like if I could shoot a 65, I was there.” [though] Obviously you need at least 65 already [Sunday] Once I did that. That’s what I wanted to do, but obviously some improvements would be nice. ”
Rose and Lowry are both seeking their second career major championships, and a similar come-from-behind victory on Sunday will move them much closer to the lead.
“I still believe in myself, I believe I have these opportunities [to win] Of course it’s a major,” Rose said.
“Obviously you come here at the start of every major championship and you know what it means to win one of them,” Lowry said. “Fortunately, I’ve been able to do that before. It’s pretty good to win one, but winning multiple is a little bit on a different level. Tomorrow is going to mean a lot to me. .”
Both players were at 5 under after the first seven holes. I have to do the same on Sunday.
“Today was a lot of fun,” Rose said. “I felt like I was off to a dream start. Shane and I had the exact same scorecards for the first seven holes. We were both doing well at 5 under and had some kind of place on the leaderboard. I was definitely very aware that I was making progress.
“It was a typical moving day. Things went well,” Rose added.
Warning of understatement.
