Lowry made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole during the delayed third round of The Players Championship on Sunday; Irishman will resume four off the lead when play continues at 8am local time (midday GMT) on Monday; watch live on Sky Sports The Players (channel 405)
Monday 14 March 2022 01:10, UK
Shane Lowry lit up the weather-affected Players Championship with a hole-in-one on the iconic 17th as Paul Casey continued his superb comeback from a nightmare start at Sawgrass.
Lowry's tee shot on the 124-yard par three pitched around 10 feet beyond the hole and span back into the cup to spark wild celebrations from the 34-year-old Irishman.
Lowry - who also made an ace on the 16th at Augusta National during the 2016 Masters - said: "You play this game, just special things happen sometimes. It's pretty cool to do it there, one of the most iconic holes in golf.
"Yeah, what can I say? It was a special thing to happen, and I'm looking forward to turning on my phone and seeing the messages I've got. Not only that, it put me back in the tournament somewhat. So it was amazing."
At five under par when play was halted due to darkness, Lowry had four holes of his third round to complete and was four shots off the lead held by India's Anirban Lahiri, who has seven holes remaining.
Casey made a triple-bogey seven on his first hole of the $20million event on Thursday, but fought back to card an opening 70 and added a bogey-free 69 on Sunday which included a birdie from 50ft on the par-three 17th.
"I don't know if I've ever had two full days off at a tournament," Casey said in reference to the bad weather which meant some players who teed off early on Thursday did not play again until Sunday.
"It's been weird. It started with a triple bogey on Thursday to start my championship but I ground out two under, which I was immensely happy with, especially as I knew there was going to be a delay of some sort.
"I know I got the lucky side of the draw. I'm very aware of that. And it's been interesting watching the guys battle on the other side. I mean, I believe in the golfing gods and karma, so I don't sit there gleefully watching it.
"Then today I made a lot of putts. That's been the key really. Even my ball striking hasn't been up to my usual sort of standard. But then dropping the long one on 17 was very, very cool."
Who will win The Players? Watch the conclusion to the third round live on Monday from midday on Sky Sports The Players, with coverage from the final round available at 5pm on the same channel.
