Shane Lowry made a disappointing start to the Spanish Open on Thursday, his first start since holing the putt to retain the Ryder Cup, as he struggled to a four-over-par 75 at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
The Irishman began with a bogey on his first hole, starting at the 10th, and never got back under par, a birdie at his 16th hole preventing the round from getting worse.
Lowry, who played in the Pro-Am with tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, said he had not done much practice in the aftermath of Bethpage and his rustiness showed on a tricky and tight set-up made more difficult by a windy day in Madrid.
The 38-year-old is well down the Race to Dubai rankings, having prioritised the PGA Tour this season, and has work to do to make the cut in what could be his penultimate event of the year
RM Block
The set-up proved too much for Ireland’s Conor Purcell who is last by three shots after a disastrous 10-over-par 81. Tom McKibbin was the best of the Irish after a mixed level-par round of 71 which included five bogeys, but he finished with two birdies, including from 31 feet at the 18th.
England’s Marco Penge, third in the Race to Dubai rankings behind Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton courtesy of two wins this season, was one shot off the lead after a five-under-par round of 66, one shot behind Frenchman Ugo Coussaud, who made two eagles in his round.
Lowry was playing with home favourite Jon Rahm, who said he was “angry” after his one-over-par 72.
Rahm is looking for his fourth win in his national Open, and left himself ground to make up as a holed eagle from the bunker at the par-5 14th and a birdie at the 15th was not enough to make up for four bogeys.
“Frustrating day. You couldn’t ask a harder question right now. I’m so angry and I want to be so sarcastic,” he told Sky Sports.
“I struggled with the wind to be honest. There were a lot of swings that came out the way I wanted to and the wind didn’t affect it the way I wanted it to.
“I didn’t feel like I played that badly and the score is not nearly where I wanted to be.”
The winner of the tournament qualifies for the Masters and the Open Championship as part of the new national Opens criteria.
“I think it’s an extreme honour. I think it speaks to the history and the meaning of this event,” Rahm said.
“And I hope it’s a young Spanish player, if it’s not one of us, gets a chance to go out and perform in those great venues. Because it’s never easy to make it there.”
Such a candidate could be 21-year-old Angel Ayora, who was the best of the Spanish players at four under.
