Golf

Slow start for Power and Harrington in Texas Open as Maguire makes cut

Early clubhouse lead claimed by the unheralded Justin Lower who opens with a 66

Leona Maguire: both herself and Stephanie Meadow comfortably made the cut in the innovative T-Mobile Match Play Championship at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. Photograph: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images

Philip Reid
Thu Apr 4 2024 - 21:56

If Séamus Power or Pádraig Harrington are to escape from the last chance saloon to earn the final exemption into next week’s Masters as winner of the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, then it will only be by producing something truly exceptional.

As American Justin Lower – a player ranked 157th in the world and also chasing that last spot in Augusta – celebrated his 35th birthday with a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to claim the early clubhouse lead on the Oaks Course, the two Irishmen struggled to make any real impact in the first round of the $9.2 million tournament that offers the winner a place in the 88th Masters tournament.

Power – with three bogeys and two birdies – opened with a one-over 73 that had him in a battle to survive the cut while Harrington, playing on a sponsor’s invitation, signed for a 75.

Just over a fortnight after winning the Hoag Classic on the Champions Tour, the Dubliner’s return to the PGA Tour has proven tougher with the prospect of a second missed cut after failing to make the weekend in the Valspar.

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For Lower, an impressive round – in which his short game scrambling enabled him to keep any blemishes off his scorecard – put him at the top of the leaderboard from the early wave of players with six birdies as he went about chasing a breakthrough win on the main tour.

Of acquiring the early lead, not something he is used to, Lower observed: “I don’t know if I’m the hunted at all. I’m still a, ‘quote unquote’, mule out here as compared to other guys, but I’m just trying to play as best as I can. I’m trying to learn as much as I can every day. I find myself watching guys on the range just to see if I can pick anything up, stuff like that, and around the greens especially. I’ve learned a lot and I feel like I’m kind of coming into my own finally.”

Lower held a two strokes clubhouse lead on world number 10 Max Homa, Denny McCarthy and Tyson Alexander.

On the LPGA Tour, both Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow comfortably made the cut in the innovative T-Mobile Match Play Championship at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas where the leading 65 players and ties through the first two rounds moved on.

A further – and critical – cut after the third round will see only the leading eight players progress into the weekend for the matchplay phase, starting with quarter-finals and semi-finals on Saturday and the championship final on Sunday.

Maguire – who was third in the event last year after losing in the semi-final – again showed a liking for the course, although strong winds made scoring generally difficult with rounds stretching well beyond five hours to complete.

The Solheim Cup star started on the 10th with a bogey but shifted into gear with a birdie on 12 and back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18. A bogey on the second was followed by successive birdies at four and five and she rebounded from a bogey on the sixth with a birdie on the seventh in ultimately signing for a 69 for three-under-par 141 to lie in tied-fifth on finishing her round.

Meadow, meanwhile, bounced back from a missed cut at last week’s Ford Championship with another level-par 72 for 144 that featured three birdies and three bogeys to sit inside the top-20.

Carlota Ciganda, who sank the putt which ensured Europe retained the Solheim Cup last year, continued her strong recent form with a second round 66 to add to her opening 73 to claim the early clubhouse lead on five-under 139.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times

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