Doonbeg (Ireland), Sep 12 (IANS) Shane Lowry was the pick of the field at the end of the second round at the Amigen Irish Open as he found himself in the lead, three strokes clear of his closest rivals.

Lowry fired a standout round of 8-under 62 at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel to take his total score to 11-under par (67-62) for the halfway lead at his national Open.

Lowry is followed by Haotong Li (69-63) of China along with the Danish pair of Jacob Skov Olesen (68-64) and Niklas Nørgaard (68-64). The three players have a score of 8-under par heading into the third round. Rory McIlroy (69-69) is T-20, while Jon Rahm (70-67) is T-14.

There is no Indian in the field this week.

Lowry is among the stars who will play in India alongside McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and a lot of other world stars at the DP World India Championship.

Lowry registered his first major success at the Irish Open back in 2009 as an amateur when he won the Irish Open in a playoff against Englishman Robert Rock. The two players recorded scores of 17-under par before Lowry won the tournament in the third playoff hole. Since then, Shane Lowry has played at every single edition of the Irish Open.

The year 2026 has not been the best for the Irishman, as he began the year with a top-10 finish at the Dubai Invitational in January, where he finished T-3. He would follow it with a T-8 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He has not had a strong finish since. The opening round of 67 followed by a second round of 62 may bring back fond memories for Lowry as these same opening two-round scores for his historic 2009 success at the Irish Open, albeit on a par 72 course instead of the current par 70.

Lowry began his second round with early birdies on the third, fourth and fifth holes and had progressed to 6-under par by the turn as he made a trio of birdies on the seventh, eighth and ninth holes. The back nine saw him continue the fireworks as he picked up shots on the 11th and 12th holes before making his only bogey of the day on the 13th. His ninth birdie of the day on the 15th hole saw him close out the round with a score of 8-under 62 and a total of 11-under par.

Haotong Li recorded a second round of 7-under 63 after making seven birdies, one eagle and two bogeys. Jacob Skov Olesen made seven birdies and one bogey for his second-round score of 6-under 64, while his fellow countryman Niklas Nørgaard played a bogey-free second round of 6-under 64, including six birdies, to be placed at T-2 on the leaderboard.

–IANS

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