Shane Lowry fires course-record 62 to storm into Irish Open lead at Donald Trump course

Ahead of US President Donald Trump paying a visit to the County Clare venue on Saturday, Lowry signed for nine birdies and one bogey in a brilliant second-round salvo in the DP World Tour ‘Back 9’ swing event.

Having opened with an equally-impressive 67 in much tougher windy conditions on Thursday, Lowry reached the halfway point sitting on 11 under par and leads by three shots from Danish duo Jacob Skov Olesen and Niklas Norgaard, as well as China’s Haotong Li .

A posse of Scots, led by Ewen Ferguson and also including Bob MacIntyre and Calum Hill, is heading into the weekend in promising positions, but, if he keeps up the level of his performance so far, then Lowry is going to be tough to catch.

“It was nice,” he said of his second day’s work, which included him picking up eight birdies in the first 12 holes. “It was real fun out there. I got off to a nice start and then I just kept going. I felt great out there. Just kept my foot on the gas and tried to keep hitting good shots and keep holing putts.”

Lowry has slipped outside the top 50 in the world, having gone off the boil a bit since letting winning chances in both the DP World Tour’s Dubai Invitational and Cognizant Classic on the PGA Tour slip through his fingers. The 2019 Open champion, though, is one of those players who can get back into the groove pretty easily and he has certainly thrilled the home fans so far this week.

“I liked the little birdie I made on 15, after the mistake I made on 13,” he added of this sparkling effort. “I liked how I finished the round off after that. Also, I think my par putt on 10 was probably my highlight of the day. After getting pretty unlucky with my second shot, I think I did a great job making par there. Yeah, there were a few today, but I'll take them because it's been a while, so it was nice.”

Lowry will head into the weekend sitting nine shots ahead of defending champion Rory McIlroy, who almost holed his approach from 145 yards but then three-putted from four feet.

“I know the conditions are going to be tough tomorrow, so I knew I needed to go and shoot a good score today,” said Lowry. “There's going to be some elements over the weekend and it's going to be a bit of a battle, but one thing is for sure - I'm in a good position and I'm going to go out and give it my best over the next two days.”

Ferguson signed for a six-birdie 66 to sit on five under, two better than MacIntyre, who was in danger of missing the cut after an opening 72 but roared back with a 65, and PGA Tour card-chasing Hill, as well as David Law.

“I feel like I’m playing well, so hopefully I can keep that going over the weekend,” said three-time tour winner Ferguson, who, like Lowry, hopes the wind picks up again for the final 36 holes.