Shane Lowry set his sights on a Sunday showdown with Rory McIlroy after the headline attractions played their way into contention in the Amgen Irish Open.
Lowry added a second round of 69 to his opening 72 for a halfway total of one under par at Royal County Down, with McIlroy’s 70 leaving him four under and just one off the early clubhouse lead held by Laurie Canter and Todd Clements.
“I know I can go and give it a run,” said Lowry, who won the title in 2009 at Baltray while still an amateur.
“I think it’s what the tournament wants and needs. Obviously myself, and Rory is up there. It would be great if the two of us could give it a run on Sunday. You never know.
“It would be nice to go toe-to-toe on Sunday. We’ll see. It’s up to me to get myself there. I’m pretty sure he’ll get there anyway.”
Lowry and McIlroy were among the early starters on Friday and both were left to rue failing to take full advantage of surprisingly benign conditions.
“I felt like I hit some great shots, drove the ball brilliantly,” former Open champion Lowry added.
“Gave myself a few chances and then to bogey the ninth, my last hole, was pretty disappointing. But when I go back and assess my round, I’ll be pretty happy with what I did today.”
The highlight of McIlroy’s round was an eight iron to 15 feet to set up an eagle on the par-5 first, his 10th hole of the day, but the world number three covered his remaining eight holes in one over.
“I would have liked to have taken advantage of the easier conditions this morning,” McIlroy admitted.
“Those first nine holes, you’re not going to see RCD playing any easier. Then when the sun went it got a little colder and the wind started to come out of a different direction.
“It fooled me on that tee shot on the fourth and five, seven, eight and nine played tricky with that wind.
“But it was just a matter of making sure I was here for the weekend and give myself a chance. Sort of job done for the first two days and turn my attention to the weekend.
“It’s much better than nine years ago here when I was watching the third round on TV. Happy to be here for the weekend and happy to give myself a chance.”
Spain’s Alejandro del Rey matched McIlroy’s eagle on the first and looked set to post a testing target when he reached eight under, but ran up a quadruple-bogey eight on the 15th and finished alongside McIlroy on four under.
McIlroy’s playing partner and fellow Holywood Golf Club graduate Tom McKibbin improved on his opening round by five shots to make the cut, adding a two-under 69 to his opening 74 to sit on one over.
Teenage Irish amateur Seán Keeling kept up his brilliant showing after the 17-year-old from Dublin carded a one-over 72 to remain on level par for the tournament.
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