Shane Lowry shows his steel to extend Irish Open lead

In a strange day, when the whirring blades of Marine One and its escort of Chinook helicopters brought a notable visitor to the Irish Open, the show simply went on for Shane Lowry. Demonstrating his own brand of steel, he retained his lead heading into the final round of the €5-million DP World Tour tournament, four-shots clear of his nearest challenger.

Lowry’s low-scoring streak at Doonbeg continued, adding a 65 to his previous rounds of 67 and 62 for a 54-hole total of 194 for 16-under. Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen sits second on 12-under, with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann third on nine-under.

“An insane day,” said Lowry, referencing the goings-on surrounding US president Donald Trump’s arrival at his Co Clare course. But the Offalyman kept his focus, leaning heavily on his scrambling and his putter, recording nine single putts for the first time in his career on the homeward run.

On his magical spell with putter in hand, Lowry added: “I’m normally the one watching other people do it, so why not me sometimes? I’m seeing my lines well and starting the ball where I want and they’re going in and hopefully it stays that way for another 24 hours.”

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The 39-year-old started the third round at Trump International with a three-stroke advantage over his two playing partners, Olesen and Haotong Li. His fight to hold the lead was evidenced by both his pursuers rolling in eagle putts on the Par-5 eighth.

To Lowry’s credit, he played the role of observer to the two eagle putts – which briefly moved Olesen into a share of the lead on 12-under – before walking to his own 12-foot birdie putt. Olesen birdied the ninth to catch the leader.

But Lowry’s stellar play with the blade on the back nine proved instrumental in re-establishing and ultimately extending his advantage. On the 18th, a poor drive down the left hit a spectator, preventing it going into heavy rough, and Lowry then hit his approach left to under the hospitality unit where some members of the Trump family were watching the green. He again made a brilliant par save, chipping to eight feet and holing the putt.

Shane Lowry celebrates putting for par on the 18th. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

A winner of the Irish Open as an amateur at Baltray in 2009, Lowry will aim to win the Irish Open for the first time as a professional in what would be his first individual win on the DP World Tour since claiming the BMW PGA Championship in 2022.

“I’m going to try to not think about it,” said Lowry. “I’m going to talk to people around me, have a nice evening, hopefully get some sleep and get out there tomorrow afternoon.

“Hopefully the crowd gets on my side and I can put on a good show for them again and shoot a good score and do what I’m supposed to do.

“I‘m leading my home tournament and it would mean the world to knock this one off. I’m just going to have to put my head down, get back to work whenever my tee time is tomorrow, and give it a run.”

Lowry will go in the final pairing with Olesen at 2.05pm on Sunday.

Tom McKibbin moved into the top five with a 68 for seven-under. However, a disappointing finish in which he bogeyed two of his closing four holes slipped him back.

“A bit of a benign finish,” said McKibbin. “That bogey from the middle of the fairway on 15 was frustrating and then obviously that putt on the last was very annoying. I’m definitely looking to go as low as possible tomorrow and finish off a very good week.”

And Trump’s arrival during play didn’t prove too disruptive. “I see it all the time in Palm Beach,” Rory McIlroy quipped of the helicopters coming in to land near the seventh hole.

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Indeed, such matters were the least of McIlroy’s concerns as he struggled to a 74 for two-over to plummet down the leader board. His problems began with a double-bogey six on the third, where he lost a ball, followed by a second double on the sixth.

“Two doubles in the first six holes wasn’t the way I wanted to start it, obviously,” he said. “A couple of wayward drives. I took a chance on three, trying to hit driver there and get it close to the green and hit it out of bounds or lost ball, either/or.

“Then same thing on six – I tried to get it up close to the green, had to take an unplayable and made another one there. So, no momentum early, and then it was a tough enough day. I Just just couldn’t quite get it back after that.”

Liam Nolan, the 26-year-old Galwayman playing on an invitation, continued his impressive first appearance on the DP World Tour with a 68 for two-under, moving him into a share of 26th.

“I was very happy after I finished yesterday. Making the cut, getting to play four rounds at my first Irish Open is pretty special and I’m happy I was able to play some good golf today and get my name up there a bit closer to the top of the leader board,” he said.