Shane Lowry leads after second round at Hilton Head

Offalyman sits at nine under par and one shot clear in storm-affected RBC Heritage

Shane Lowry of Ireland plays his shot from the second tee during the second round of the 2019 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Shane Lowry of Ireland plays his shot from the second tee during the second round of the 2019 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Ireland's Shane Lowry kept hold of the lead after completing his second round on Saturday morning following a weather-blighted day two of the RBC Heritage tournament in South Carolina.

He was a shot ahead and nine under overall with two greens to go when his round was truncated on Friday evening, leaving him three under through 16 holes at a stormy Hilton Head.

However, the Offalyman came out on Saturday morning to par the 17th and 18th and ensure he leads by one going into moving day.

Lowry had picked up two shots before play was halted due to the weather at 12.48pm local time — and did not get under way again for another three hours and 43 minutes.

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Returning from the lengthy interruption he carded a birdie on the fifth, although dropped a shot soon after on the 187-yard par-three seventh.

The Irishman set off on an orderly return to the club house and picked up another shot on the 15th before play stopped for the day at 7.47pm on Friday.

Lowry leads by one from American Trey Mullinax who fired a second round 68 while a shot further behind him lie Emiliano Grillo and Dustin Johnson, who both shot 67s on Friday to rise into joint-third.

England's Ian Poulter also carded a 67 to rise into seventh on five under, tied with nine others including Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell, who had five holes left to play.

Fellow Briton Tommy Fleetwood was tied for 18th on four under when play was suspended, but will also have five holes to improve his lot when play resumes.

Earlier in the day Waterford man Séamus Power had briefly held the lead with Lowry after going through his first six holes in three under par but two bogeys and a double on the Par 3 14th – where he found the water with his tee shot – saw him sign for a round of 72 to lie at two under par.

Collated second round scores in the USPGA Tour RBC Heritage, Harbour Town GL, Hilton Head, South Carolina (USA unless stated, Irish in bold, par 71):

133 Shane Lowry (Irl) 65 68

134 Trey Mullinax 66 68

135 Daniel Berger 66 69, Dustin Johnson 68 67, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 68 67

136 Rory Sabbatini (Svk) 67 69, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 71 65, Kyung Ju Choi (Kor) 70 66, Troy Merritt 69 67

137 Jason Kokrak 69 68, Charley Hoffman 68 69, Ryan Palmer 66 71, Scott Piercy 67 70, Sam Burns 67 70, Ian Poulter (Eng) 70 67, Billy Horschel 67 70, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 68 69, Jordan Spieth 71 66

138 Joel Dahmen 70 68, Brian Stuard 68 70, Denny McCarthy 70 68, Zach Johnson 69 69, Matt Kuchar 69 69, Kevin Streelman 69 69, Brandon Harkins 71 67

139 Scott Stallings 70 69, Brian Gay 71 68, Patrick Cantlay 67 72, Chez Reavie 68 71, Wyndham Clark 70 69, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 71 68, Marc Leishman (Aus) 70 69, Boo Weekley 69 70, J.J. Spaun 70 69, Kevin Kisner 71 68, Peter Malnati 67 72, Luke List 66 73, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 68 71, Kyoung-hoon Lee (Kor) 70 69, Kevin Na 67 72, Michael Thompson 68 71

140 Andrew Landry 69 71, Adam Hadwin (Can) 71 69, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 70 70, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 70, Eddie Pepperell (Eng) 71 69, Ryan Moore 66 74, Séamus Power (Irl) 68 72

141 Bud Cauley 69 72, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn) 73 68, Benjamin Silverman (Can) 73 68, Xander Schauffele 71 70, Alex Noren (Swe) 67 74, Cody Gribble 72 69, Harris English 72 69, Danny Lee (Nzl) 72 69, Ryan Armour 72 69, Patton Kizzire 72 69, Jonathan Byrd 68 73

142 JT Poston 71 71, Jason Dufner 73 69, Hudson Swafford 68 74, Branden Grace (Rsa) 70 72, Webb Simpson 69 73, Richy Werenski 74 68, Scott Langley 68 74, Ted Potter, Jr. 73 69, Nick Taylor (Can) 72 70, Brandt Snedeker 71 71, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 71 71

The following players did not make the cut:

143 Andrew Putnam 69 74, Colt Knost 72 71, Stewart Cink 71 72, Chesson Hadley 71 72, Peter Uihlein 75 68, Russell Henley 73 70, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 71, Bryson DeChambeau 70 73

144 Adam Schenk 71 73, Chris Stroud 71 73, Harold Varner III 71 73, Austin Cook 71 73, Danny Willett (Eng) 74 70, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 72, Mark Anderson 73 71, Jonas Blixt (Swe) 69 75, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 72, Whee Kim (Kor) 73 71, Jim Herman 75 69

145 Chris Kirk 71 74, Vaughn Taylor 69 76, Kelly Kraft 76 69, Sam Saunders 73 72, Charles Howell III 73 72, Morgan Hoffmann 72 73, Martin Laird (Sco) 74 71, Keith Mitchell 73 72, Russell Knox (Sco) 71 74, Brice Garnett 72 73

146 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 74 72, Justin Harding (Rsa) 74 72, John Augenstein 73 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 72, Lucas Glover 76 70, Brian Harman 71 75, Ray franz Jr 76 70, Cameron Smith (Aus) 72 74, Abraham Ancer (Mex) 73 73, Jim Furyk 70 76, Ryan Blaum 71 75, Adam Long 71 75, Sungjae Im (Kor) 72 74, Corey Conners (Can) 74 72, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 72 74

147 Scott Brown 77 70, Rod Pampling (Aus) 72 75, Michael Kim 73 74, Cameron Champ 74 73, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 73 74

148 Tyler Duncan 73 75, D.J. Trahan 71 77

149 Nick Watney 74 75, D.A. Points 73 76, Matt Wallace (Eng) 75 74, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 74 75, Beau Hossler 76 73

150 Tom Hoge 76 74, Alex Cejka (Ger) 76 74

155 Roger Sloan (Can) 82 73