Lip-outs galore at Truist as green speeds catch field by surprise
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Shane Lowry of Ireland hits out of a greenside bunker on the 12th hole during the third round of the Truist Championship.
PHOTO: AFP
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FLOURTOWN – The PGA Tour is visiting the Philadelphia Cricket Club for the first time, and after plenty of low scores on May 8, the course has bitten back.
Minimal wind and soft greens at the club’s Wissahickon Course made for a low-scoring first round of the Truist Championship, when Keith Mitchell fired a nine-under 61 to take the early lead. The field played through rain on May 9 that made the track feel longer than its 7,119 yards.
On May 10, a combination of stronger gusts and faster greens presented a twist for the field at the US$20 million (S$26 million) signature event – and short missed putts were the theme of the third round.
“The greens today were a different speed than they were yesterday. They were a lot faster,” said Mitchell, who now sits three shots behind leaders Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka.
“The winds and the dry air made them a lot faster, so a couple holes were speed adjustments on three and four.”
The third and fourth holes were three-putt bogeys for Mitchell, who had a day to forget en route to a one-over 71 and an 11-under 199 total. He lipped out a three-foot par save at the par-three eighth before the ultimate meltdown at another par-three, the 14th.
Mitchell landed his tee shot to five feet of the pin, rolled his birdie try right past the cup and still could not get it right on the three-footer for par.
There are 70 players still in the field following two withdrawals on May 10, and Mitchell ranked 70th in putts per green in regulation (2.07).
But others struggled as well. Rory McIlroy had a 4½-foot putt take a 90-degree left turn on the lip en route to a double-bogey at No. 7. Lowry watched a seven-foot birdie try at No. 8 lip out hard. And Straka’s only bogey of the day came on a lip-out at the 12th hole.
“It was very tough today in those winds, particularly tough to hole putts,” Lowry said. “When you get inside 10 feet, to be really precise on these greens was tough.”
He agreed with playing partner Mitchell’s assessment of the green speeds, saying: “They were a lot quicker today, especially towards the end.
“I felt like we had a few putts where you’re hitting them at die pace, which was not the case the first few days. The first few days, I felt like they were quite slow.”
The Irishman and Austrian Straka duelled down the stretch to emerge tied for the lead after 54 holes and three strokes clear.
Lowry, the 2019 British Open champion, conjured five birdies with two bogeys for a three-under 67 and a 14-under total of 196.
Straka also found five birdies alongside his bogey, posting a four-under 66 – the pair setting up a showdown of European Ryder Cup teammates on the final day on May 11. Mitchell is tied for third with Justin Thomas (66), while Hideki Matsuyama (63) is fifth on 200 and Ulsterman McIlroy (69) is joint sixth on 202. REUTERS, AFP
