Shane Lowry dug deep, very deep. With a missed cut staring him in the face as he teed off in the second round of The Players championship at TPC Sawgrass, the Offalyman - who'd suffered the ignominy of two water balls in his opening round - responded with a second round 68 for 143, one-under, that left him alongside Tiger Woods at the midpoint.
Lowry’s fighting qualities in his bid to make the cut in the big-money flagship tournament on the PGA Tour at least gave some momentum, although he remained well adrift of second round leader Webb Simpson, who shot a stunning 63 to move to 15 under par.
This left the American five clear at the top of the leaderboard and in pole position to secure the most cherished of titles outside of the Majors.
While Lowry’s midway score of one under par was enough to keep him involved going to the weekend, Rory McIlroy’s tournament is over after a second round 74 saw him slide to one over par.
A birdie on 16 looked to have been enough for McIlroy to make the cut - but a double-bogey on the infamous 17th brought a premature end to his week in Florida.
Earlier in the day Charl Schwartzel had moved to the top of the leaderboard thanks to a Friday 68. Schwartzel, who won the 2011 Masters tournament, attributed his improved form to a tip from his fellow-South African Louis Oosthuizen who, at last month's Zurich Classic, noticed that Schwartzel's swing had a tendency to speed up.
“Getting quick has always been my fault from the time I started playing the game, so if I can keep the tempo going, I’m going to keep hitting good shots,” said Schwartzel, who listened to his old friend.
Oosthuizen decided to speak up rather than keep his counsel when observing Schwartzel’s on-course issues. “I’ve known him all my years and he’s always been a guy who you could see him visualising the shot before he goes in, he takes his time. When he did that, he hit pretty good shots. There’s nothing wrong with his swing, but he sort of got quick with everything. Quick with walking, quick into the shot and just doing everything a lot faster,” said Oosthizen, who advised Schwartzel to literally slow down.
Taking on board his friend’s advice, Schwartzel had a top-10 finish in the Wells Fargo championship last week and carried that form on to The Players where rounds of 68-66 moved him into contention to share the early clubhouse lead with Cantlay.
Meanwhile Lowry recovered from his opening round issues with a solid second round that saw him fire five birdies and suffer a lone bogey: he opened his rescue mission after an opening 75 with a wedge approach to 16 feet on the first for his first birdie and then pitched to five feet for another birdie on the second before suffering his only bogey on the fourth after a wayward drive into rough. However, he recovered with another birdie on the seventh (a wedge to eight feet), and then added further birdies on the 13th and 16th.
Woods, too, reached the midpoint of the tournament on the 143 mark after a second round 71. Woods hit eight of 13 fairways and found 12 greens in regulation in having 29 putts in his round: “My speed was good. I wasn’t close enough. I didn’t hit it close enough. The course could have been had today. I was just a touch off, I didn’t make (enough) birdies. I had my chances.”
The demands of the finishing stretch at Sawgrass were demonstrated by the fate that befell Chesson Hadley, who led the tournament as he stood on the 17th tee. However, Hadley’s tee shot found water - running up a double bogey - and then he suffered a bogey on the 18th for a 69 for 135. “Obviously I didn’t finish the way I would have loved to. I did a lot of great things, and I’m really not worried about the last two holes for a second. I’m nine-under, got a chance to win.”
