Shane Lowry’s purchase of 20-pair of different coloured socks helped produce his best-ever PGA Championship score of a three under par 68 on day one at Valhalla in Kentucky.
Lowry capped his round with three birdies in succession mid-round to head to the clubhouse inside the top-10 and just three shots behind the leading trio of England’s Lee Westwood and the American pair of Kevin Chappell and Ryan Moore.
Shane Lowry flashing his coloured socks on day one of the 96th PGA Championship. (Photo – Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie)
The Irish golfer has taken to wearing different coloured socks since wearing a green sock and also an orange sock in finishing in a share of ninth in the recent British Open, and won by good friend Rory McIlroy.
Lowry went shopping for the socks.at one of the local Louisville Dick’s Sporting Goods shops ahead of the season-ending Major, and stepped out in his seventh PGA career round wearing a blue sock on his right foot and an orange coloured sock on the other to better his previous best PGA round by two strokes.
“It was a good day’s work and I was pleased to make a nice par at the end, as I was looking in danger of dropping a shot”, he said.
“I played well in the mid part of my round and just missed a tiddlier for bogey on my 11th, and after a bad tee shot at the next I managed to hole a 15-footer for par on my 12th and that really got me going.
“I then birdied the next, my 13th hole, and then two-putted from about 40-feet at my 16th for birdie, and played decent from there on in.
“So I am very happy with the day and it’s the way I am feeling about my game now as I am coming into these big events with plenty of confidence and trying to contend, and compete.
“It’s where I want to be just three off the lead and after shooting a decent number today I am teeing up first in the morning so the greens should be nice and the temperatures a bit cooler.”
