Lowry hit by late US PGA blow

Shane Lowry's charge into contention at the US PGA was brought to a shuddering halt as the Offalyman suffered a triple bogey on the 17th.

The 30-year-old had plotted his way around a Quail Hollo course with softer greens after brief showers in mid-afternoon, lying on -5 for his round with just two holes to play.

The Esker Hills man carded eight pars and a single birdie on the front nine before bursting into life after the turn, picking up strokes on four of the next six holes.

Play was then suspended for a couple of hours as thunderstorms made their way through the area and when the action resumed, Lowry parred the 16th.

But disaster struck on the par-three 17th as, after finding thick rough well to the right of the green, his second shot flew across the green and into the water.

A triple-bogey was the result, which knocked Lowry out of the top 10 and down from -2 to +1.

He composed himself well to make par at the last for a two-under 69, leaving him nine strokes off the -8 lead jointly held by Kevin Kisner and Hideki Matsuyama.

A second straight 67 saw Kisner post the early clubhouse lead and for a while it looked like he would go into the third round as the outright leader.

But the in-form Matsuyama finished with two late birdies to card a superb seven-under 64.

Jason Day came flying back into form after a poor season, shooting a 66 to move into third place two shots behind the leaders.

Francesco Molinari matched Matsuyama's 64 to charge into the shake-up and he enjoys a share of fourth place with Louis Oosthuizen and Chris Stroud on -5.

Earlier in the day Rory McIlroy struggled to a one-over 72 and a total for his two rounds of +2 while the grand slam-chasing Jordan Spieth had to settle for a 73, with the Texan out of contention on three-over-par.

eir Sport are showing all four days of the PGA Championship from Quail Hollow, 10-13 August. Coverage continues at 7pm Irish time on eir Sport 1 on Saturday, 12 August.

Image: Getty/Warren Little

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