Shane Second in Akron

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Shane Lowry Firestoned Akron with a second round 66 to sit four behind outright leader Jim Furyk’s to seize a share of second at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Lowry signed for a four under par card and remains in the chase alongside Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson.

A booming 300 yard drive down the 11th left an approach of just 111 yards and he would spin that in to six feet to roll in the birdie that moved him into second place on his own.

It was the 14th however that possibly proved to be Lowry’s key hole. A misjudged second shot saw his ball scuttle into the bunker at the back of the green but from there he would flip it out to 10 feet before rolling in a crucial, clutch par putt.

That save would give him the momentum to find the back of the par three 15th green from where he rolled in a long birdie putt to close the gap yet further on Jim Furyk.

Pars at the 16th and the 17th saw him go to the final hole three behind the lead. However, a bogey there after his second shot flew the green meant that he signed for a 66 and had to settle for a total of four under par going into the weekend.

It could have all been even better as well, were it not for a short missed par putt at the ninth, his last. That bogey came after three birdies in four holes, including a beautifully played flop shot at the fifth which found the bottom of the cup for a two.

Graeme McDowell battled hard to remain in contention as he looks to improve on a dismal season so far.

As steady starts go McDowell had the steadiest of all, opening with 10 straight pars as he played the course the opposite way around.

However, trouble around the green at the 11th would see the 2010 US Open card a six and drop back a shot.

A birdie two holes later at the fourth, thanks to an exquisite approach to two feet, was nullified by a bogey at the sixth.

Three straight pars to finish the round was enough to see the 36-year-old sign for a one over par 71, leaving him nicely placed going into the weekend.

For Padraig Harrington it was a second successive two over par 72 as he failed to get any sort of birdie run together.

Level par for the round going to the 13th Harrington would fail to make par and followed that bogey up with another at the 14th to slip back to four over for the tournament.

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McIlroy No Rub of Green

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Rory McIlroy admitted he had doubts over his putting after squandering a number of chances to get back into contention for the US Open in the third round.

The world No 1 was again impressive from tee to green at Chambers Bay, but he needed 31 putts in a frustrating level-par 70 that left him on four over par for the tournament.

McIlroy, who has now had 96 putts over 54 holes, started confidently with the short stick as he holed a great putt for par from 15 feet at the first and nailed another from similar distance for birdie at the second.

He converted another sublime approach at the seventh, but he missed "seven good chances" on the back nine and dropped shots at the 11th and 15th before holing from 12 feet to salvage a par-five at the last.

"I missed seven good chances on the back nine, or seven makeable putts, anyway," said McIlroy, who dropped shots on the 11th and 15th. "It was just nice to see one drop at the last there. I feel like I turned a 65 into a 70 today.

"Whenever you start to miss a couple you start to get a little tentative. You start to doubt yourself. You start to doubt the greens a little bit. And then it just sort of snowballs from there. I holed a few nice ones early on, but once I missed a couple it got into my head and couldn't really get out of it."

Henrik Stenson had likened the greens to putting on broccoli after the second round, but McIlroy joked: "I don't think they're as green as broccoli. I think they're more like cauliflower.

"They are what they are, everyone has to putt on them. It's all mental. Some guys embrace it more than others, and that's really the way it is. It is disappointing that they're not in a bit better shape. But the newer greens like seven and 13, they're perfect.

"I played last Sunday and I felt like they (the USGA) brought it a little too much towards the brink then. And it's always a struggle from then to sort of rein it back little bit. I would have liked to see them keep it a little greener for the practice rounds and then gradually as the tournament progresses get a little firmer.

"That might have kept the greens in a bit better shape, but you never know. I've never been here before, but I hear that the weather isn't always like this. If there had been a little bit of moisture and had it been overcast the greens might not have gotten baked out and as bumpy as they are."

McIlroy admitted he was frustrated to four-putt the 17th and drop another shot on the 18th in his second round, but was happy to have ground out a score after missing the cut in his previous two events.

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McIlroy Open US with 72

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Rory McIlroy endured another frustrating day with the putter as he opened his US Open campaign with an erratic two-over 72 at Chambers Bay.

The world No 1 was in good touch from tee to green, but he failed to convert a number of birdie chances as he struggled to get to grips with the mottled putting surfaces.

McIlroy did get an early putt to drop for birdie at the 11th - his second - although he dropped shots at 14 and 15 before getting back to level par with a fine approach at the next and a putt to match.

Several further opportunities went begging as he parred the next eight holes, and his frustration got the better of him when he bogeyed two of the last three to slide seven shots off the lead.

But the 2011 champion refused to blame the poor quality of the green for his performance and insisted the course was set up "fair" for the tournament. 

"They are not the best I have putted on but I should be used to it as the last two tournaments I've played have been just as bad," said McIlroy, who missed the cut in both the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and Irish Open at Royal County Down.

"I felt like I played well tee to green and gave myself a lot of looks but did not take advantage of the good shots I was hitting. There were a couple of misreads and a couple of bad strokes in there as well.

"It's hard to pick the line and trust it and then you start making tentative strokes and you are not getting a true roll on the ball. I need to work on that before tomorrow's round and see if I can figure something out."

McIlroy's Ryder Cup team-mate Henrik Stenson shared the early clubhouse lead with Dustin Johnson after both fired 65s, and the Northern Irishman added: "It was set up fair and you see some of the scores that are already in. There are definitely scores in the mid-60s are out there.

"It re-iterates what I was thinking, which is that you can be very aggressive with your tee shots. It's not a typical US Open where you are playing a game of chess."

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Injured McDowell Masters Doubt

Graeme McDowell has been forced to withdraw from the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio with an ankle injury.

The Northern Irishman suffered the problem during practice on Wednesday and, although he managed to play his opening nine holes on Thursday, he pulled out of the tournament before setting his sights on getting fit for the Masters.

McDowell, tweeted: "Apologies to everyone at @valerotxopen for my withdrawal. Strained my lower left leg/ankle area practicing y/day and played with heavy strapping on it in the pro am and this morning.

"With The Masters upcoming I decided that getting fit is imperative. Don't like WDs.

"The week here at @valerotxopen had everything I wanted. Great people and great course. Disappointed this has happened. Thanks to everyone."

McDowell, who won the US Open in 2010, was five over at the Valero Texas Open when he withdrew, having started on the back nine.

The Masters begins at Augusta National on April 9.

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McIlroy Lacks Masters Confidence

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Rory McIlroy admitted he needs to feel more confident with his all-round game before he bids to complete a career grand slam at the Masters next month.

The world No 1 was at odds with his swing throughout the week in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, where he closed with a level-par 72 after hitting two balls into the water at the 18th.

McIlroy was forced to apologise for throwing his three-iron into a lake in disgust on Friday after pulling his second shot to the eighth, although he was reunited with the club ahead of his final round after Doral owner Donald Trump commissioned a diver to retrieve it.

The 25-year-old, who had played with 13 clubs on Saturday rather than the permitted 14, asked Trump "Is it dry?" before putting the club straight into his bag with a sheepish grin. He then told Trump he would give the club back following the tournament to be auctioned off for charity.

McIlroy jokingly threatened to dispose of the three-iron in the same fashion after tugging his third into the water at the last having already rinsed his drive.

He chipped in to salvage a double-bogey six which dropped him to one under for the tournament, eight shots behind champion Dustin Johnson, and McIlroy now has only one tournament on his schedule before he heads to Augusta National.

McIlroy will make his debut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in a fortnight, and he remains determined to get his game into shape before the first major of the season.

"The game's just not quite there. I've got a week off now to try and work on it a little bit," said McIlroy, who missed the cut at last week's Honda Classic. "I am pretty disappointed with how I played overall. I felt it was a little better again today for the most part but a bit of a disappointing finish. But it's just not quite 100 percent.

"My inability to hit the ball right-to-left isn't something that you want going into Augusta. It is something I want to try and work on a little bit.

"Statistically, I hit the ball better this week. Still it's just not quite as comfortable as I would like. I've got a week off now to try to work on the game a bit and get a little sharper for Bay Hill.

"I'm tentative, a little bit scared to play certain shots, because I feel like I can't at the minute. So, hitting away from flags, trying to make sure that I am missing it in the right areas. Just playing quite conservatively, which is very much unlike me.

"I have just got to get back at it and try to figure out what I need to do, but I have no concerns about that. It's not something I need to play my way out of. It's just something that I need to stand on the range and beat balls until I feel comfortable with it again."

McIlroy will play practice rounds at Augusta National next week with his father Gerry and some friends, including New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

"I'll just be trying to hit shots that I need," he added. "I'll be hitting a lot of draws, or trying to hit a lot of draws, anyway."

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Classic Harrington Wins Honda

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Padraig Harrington overturned a four-shot final day deficit to snatch a dramatic victory at the second play-off hole of a rain-delayed Honda Classic.

After bad weather had forced the tournament into a fifth day, Harrington, without a PGA Tour title since a two-stroke win at the 2008 PGA Championship, sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th to finish level on six-under with rookie Daniel Berger and force a play-off.

The pair both two-putted the first extra hole at the 18th for par, before Harrington nailed his tee-shot at the 17th to within five-feet of the hole as Berger found the hazard. With the American only able to double-bogey, Harrington took two attempts from five feet to end his title drought and book his ticket to next month's Masters. 

Earlier, Harrington had struck four birdies in a row to move in to the clubhouse lead, missing a 10-foot putt at the 15th for a fifth successive gain. The Irishman had lost his advantage with a double-bogey at the penultimate hole when his tee-shot flew into the water hazard, but sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a play-off.

Berger, nine shots adrift heading in to the final round, had fired back-to-back birdies to close with an impressive six-under 64. 

Poulter, searching for a first stroke-play win in America, opened the day by rolling in a birdie at the 8th before missing an 11-foot putt for a further gain at the following hole.

Reaching the turn two clear, the world No 36 opened up the top of the leaderboard with a double-bogey at the 11th, finding the water with his second shot and then two-putting from 15-feet.

The Englishman was unfortunate again at the 13th when, from 120 yards, his second shot from the fairway bunker rattled the flag and spun away, with the resulting 15-foot birdie putt rolling alongside the hole.

Things went from bad to worse for Poulter at the next when, after taking a drop out of water following a wayward tee-shot, his third shot from the dirt ricocheting off a palm tree and ended back in the lake. After seeing his fifth shot fall in to a deep bunker, Poulter had to settle for triple-bogey.

With others faltering around him, Poulter ended positively with back-to-back birdies to end tied-third alongside British duo Russell Knox and Paul Casey. 

Overnight joint-leader Casey picked up an early birdie at the ninth, before dropping shots with an eight-foot missed putt at 11 and a tee-shot into a bunker at 14. Needing to pick up a stroke at the 18th to move joint-leader, Casey played his third shot out of the bunker to within 20-feet of the hole but saw his birdie-putt slow up inches short. 

Despite carding three bogeys in his final round, Knox ended strongly to post a two-under 68, while Jamie Donaldson made three late gains to finish a further shot back, with a three-putt from 50-feet at the 16th his only blemish.

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Padraig Races Ahead at Honda

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Padraig Harrington fired an opening round 67, three under par, that left him in tied-third, two shots behind first round leader Jim Herman. “Even I was struggling, questioning and doubting myself,” said Harrington of the testing wind conditions which caused consternation for the majority of the field.

McIlroy ultimately displayed his resolve to overcome the elements in a round that featured two double-bogeys in his opening five holes to shoot a 73, three over. His round was rescued to a degree by birdies on the closing two holes: from 30 feet on the 17th, and a two-putt birdie on the par five 18th.

Harrington ended a run of three consecutive missed cuts to finish tied-56th in last week’s Northern Trust Open and to take some confidence into the first leg of the Florida Swing, but suffered a bogey on the second hole where he pushed his tee shot into a native dirt area and could only move the recovery shot some 30 yards into a bunker on the way to a dropped shot.

But that bogey served as a wake-up call for the three-time Major champion as he bounced back with a birdie on the par five third and sank an 18-footer for birdie on the eighth.

Harrington had struggled early on, missing four of the first six greens, but kept his focus to make the most of whatever opportunities arose.

He showed great battling qualities to reel off seven straight pars in the tough conditions from the ninth before hitting a superb approach from 200 yards in to three feet for a birdie on the 16th.

On the par five 18th, playing downwind, he hit a 340-yard drive, hit his 223 yards approach on to the green and two-putted for a birdie that put him into a good position.

“I found it difficult,” admitted Harrington. “But I holed a couple of nice putts and, on a windy day, when you do that, you feel you are ahead of the pack if you can make a few more birdies. As tough as the day was, I kept telling myself it suited me more than most guys.”

Harrington was well rewarded for his doggedness and perseverance, as he stuck to his task to roll back the years.

Graeme McDowell had a dreadful opening to his round with four bogeys in the first five holes and then suffered a double bogey on the second, his 11th. He salvaged something from the round with an eagle on the third, but it was more a case of damage limitation. 

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GMAC Just Beats Neighbour

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Graeme McDowell pulled off the biggest surprise Wednesday in an opening round of comebacks in the World Golf Championship-Accenture Match Play Championship.

"The Cadillacs were circling," he said. They must have looked like buzzards. 

McDowell was 4 down through seven holes and still three holes behind with three to play when he staged an improbable rally against Florida neighbour Gary Woodland. McDowell seized on Woodland's mistakes to win the next three holes, and then put him away with a 6-foot birdie putt on the 19th hole.

"I'm sure he's extremely disappointed right now -- and I'm extremely elated," McDowell said. "I'm surprised to be sitting here, having won. Yeah, I hit a couple of quality shots down the last couple of holes, but he had mistakes, as well. It's a brutal format."

It's certainly brutal for 32 players that were headed home, a list that included Zach Johnson (3), Dustin Johnson (6) and Steve Stricker (9) among the top 10 seeds.

Eleven of the 32 matches went at least 18 holes, with five of them decided in overtime.

PGA champion Jason Dufner also rallied with some help. He was three down with five holes to play when Scott Stallings chopped up two holes, Dufner made a key birdie, and Dufner won on the first extra hole with a par.

Eight players trailed with six holes remaining and went on to win. That included Henrik Stenson, who avoided becoming the third straight No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round of golf's most unpredictable tournament.

Stenson, awarded the top seed because Tiger Woods and Masters champion Adam Scott chose not to play, trailed Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand with five holes to play. The big Thai struggled with his putter, however, missing a 4-footer for par on the 14th to lose the hole, and an 8-footer for birdie on the 15th that would have given him the lead. Stenson made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th, and won the match when Aphibarnrat failed to match his birdie on the 17th by missing from 5 feet.

"I'm still in shock," Stenson said. "It was a tough match."

Second-seeded Justin Rose held off Scott Piercy, and No. 4 seed Rory McIlroy had little trouble against Boo Weekley to advance to the round of 32 on Thursday.

Richard Sterne of South Africa had no trouble against Zach Johnson in a 5-and-4 victory. It was the fourth straight year the American lost in the first round. Dustin Johnson fell behind early to Peter Hanson and never caught up in losing, 4 and 3. Dustin Johnson now has lost in the opening round five times in six appearances.

Stricker, who only decided to come to Match Play after his brother had liver transplant surgery over the weekend, lost to George Coetzee of South Africa.

The day was filled with blowouts and overtime.

Sergio Garcia missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to beat Marc Leishman. They wound up playing the longest match of the opening round, which Garcia won in 22 holes with a 6-foot birdie on No. 4.

Brandt Snedeker never led in his match against David Lynn of England. He halved the match with a par on the 17th hole, and then won in 20 holes when Lynn failed to birdie the easy par-5 second hole.

Harris English beat Lee Westwood in 15 holes, while Matteo Manassero sent Luke Donald home after only 14 holes.

Rickie Fowler, coming off three straight missed cuts, caught Ian Poulter on a bad day and sent the Ryder Cup star packing with a 2-and-1 victory. "It feels like a big win after those missed cuts," Fowler said. "It was nice to be the underdog. I had nothing to lose."

Jordan Spieth made back-to-back birdies and then put away Pablo Larrazabal on the 18th hole when both drove into the same bunker. Larrazabal's shot went 5 yards further and was blocked by the lip. "That could easily have been me," Spieth said.

Bubba Watson was giving holes away early before winning three straight holes on the back nine in a 2-and-1 win over Mikko Ilonen of Finland.

Still, no match epitomized the wild nature of this format than McDowell's win over Woodland.

They live down the street from each other at Lake Nona. They practiced together last week. They flew out to Arizona together. And they had to play each other in the first round on a course where Woodland figured to have a big advantage with his length. McDowell played a practice round with Brooks Koepka, the first alternate, to get used to being outdriven by some 50 yards.

His worst fears were realized. Woodland already was 4 up through seven holes. McDowell pecked away at the lead, but still thought he had blown it when Woodland made his 8-foot birdie on the 15th hole, and McDowell missed from 6 feet.

"I thought it was over," McDowell said. "You're not coming back from 3 down against a guy that's playing as well as him. Yeah, I'm still going to try to hit my shots. But it required a mistake from him to give me half a sniff, even."

Woodland obliged. His shot on the par-3 16th sailed over the green, and it took two chips to get on the putting surface. Woodland had wedge into the 17th and pulled it well to the left. McDowell made a 12-foot birdie, and then squared the match when Woodland went from the left bunker to the right bunker on the 18th and conceded the hole.

One birdie later, it was over.

"It feels like a Sunday afternoon on Wednesday," McDowell said.

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