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Astronaut Alan Sheperd from Apollo 14 shanked his first shot 40 yards into a crater before lofting his second shot 200 yards on February 6, 1971

He shook his head as the sounds of Ole Ole Ole rung out from the gallery. Shane Lowry called it “the most incredible day of his life”  It sounded like a Ryder Cup celebration, and it was only Saturday. He said his mind was still fuzzy with it all but he had had the rare experience of feeling comfortable all day and was feeding off the energy of the Irish in his gallery. He had felt completely in control of his game, he said. He certainly played aggressive golf, taking driver off the tee more times than most. But it was his iron play and his wonderful dextrous short game around the greens which was most impressive. He has such feel and creativity and releases the clubhead through the ball so well. He likes to vary his shots too, high, low, left, right. It was a very confident performance.

Lowry holds a four shot lead at -16 over Tommy Fleetwood at -12, JB Holmes at -10, Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka are behind. Torrential rain is forecast for the final round with an early start planned, but Lowry is a good bad weather player. Apart from the conditions, the expectations of the home crowd for an Irish winner there are a couple of other things to contend with. He’s occasionally lost focus this week, particularly on Thursday on the back nine when he overheard a Tv commentator analysing his swing while he was on the tee about to hit his shot. He seemed a little zoned out during the final holes of the first round.

And then there’s the memory of Oakmont. During the 2016 US Open he held another 4 shot lead going into the final round, and did not win. He says he will “deal with it better this time”.

He gave everyone a magical Saturday and he says whatever happens tomorrow he might never experience anything like the support of this crowd again so he intends to enjoy every minute. In his post round interview he told the press he would be going back to the house to watch Love Island, supporting the Irishman in there.

On the third day of the Open Championship everyone has been applauding and marvelling at what relentless Shane Lowry has been doing. He’s now -15 6 ahead of the third place players. Every player in the top 20 has scored par or better.

But looking at the statistics again, they make surprising reading. Although Lowry leads the approach shots category – this course demands strong iron play – with 93%, Tommy Fleetwood is also at 88% in this category, Lowry has a very low percentage for driving accuracy at only 41%.

In driving distance Alex Noren is leading with 335 yards and Lowry is way down with 295 yards. Lee Westwood is even shorter at 281 yards, Fleetwood at  316.In the putting category Noren performs well again at 1.44 Lowry is at 1.56 and Fleetwood 1.59.

On Tuesday Xander Schaufelle’s Callaway driver failed a random R&A test, which was introduced at the 2018 Open Championship. A 20% sample of the 156 field had their clubs tested to see if they complied with what is called the co-efficient of restitution. This is a measure of how much energy is transferred from the club to the ball at impact, which has to be up to 83%. Also tested is how long the driver face  and ball are in contact, which has to be less than 239 microseconds. Tiger Woods was also among the random sample, and his equipment passed. It is the first time a player’s equipment has failed this test.

Speaking on Friday Schauffele said

“Yesterday it wasn’t really matching my bag, which was a bummer. I was getting a little upset on the golf course,” Schauffele said. “Today I was testing a little bit on the range again with two different heads. But moved a few weights around and sort of found a good setting.”

I have a legal driver now, and I sort of put that one to rest and happy to see that ball performing like it did today or the driver performing like it did today, so that was very comforting,” he said. “Like I said it will get better every day. We’ve still got two more.”

“I had a little bit of run-in with them, because they only test 30 players. I thought it was a little bit unfair,” Schauffele said after his Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero was dinged on Tuesday. “I would gladly give up my driver if it’s not conforming. But there’s still 130 other players in the field that potentially have a nonconforming driver as well.”

On Friday Schaufelle shot 65, the best score of the day and is currently -4 for his round on Saturday, three birdies in four holes within one shot of the lead.

A reporter for Golf Digest has observed this

“Update on the Xander/driver controversy. Multiple sources tell Golf Digest Schauffele may not have been the only player to fail the CT test, with 3-to-4 manufacturers at fault. Asked about other failed tests, the R&A told us it wouldn’t comment further on the process”

Nice tribute to Rory McIlroy’s magnificent comeback round of 65 today from fellow professional Justin Thomas

“Even as a competitor and trying to beat the guy every week, sometimes I have to step back and realize how great @McIlroyRory is for golf. How he handles the spotlight, the highs, the lows, his social life, the fans, his golf, everything.. it’s awesome to watch”

Starting the round at lowly 147th place, Rory managed to shoot -5 for the first 12 holes before the rain set in, A bogey on 13 followed by another on 14 was followed by a birdie putt from 12 feet on the difficult par 3 16th hole which is called calamity.

He needed a birdie from one of the two finishing holes to make the cut but a cruel missed putt on 17 was followed by a strong par on 18 to reach +2: his 65 equalled the lowest score of the day, but he will be missing the cut by 1 shot.

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A bogey finish at the 18th hole was a frustrating end to what had been an excellent day for Shane Lowry who was loudly cheered by the home fans onto every green.He played so well on the front nine getting off to a fast start with two birdies. He was particularly good around the greens, sometimes taking a read off playing partner Phil Mickelson’s shots. He was less good on the back nine once he got to -10 and holding the lead, he had to battle the rain and a stiffer wind and had 2 bogeys. However he was pleased with two 67s for the opening rounds. He said he had got himself into a great position and didnt feel under pressure from the expectations of the Irish supporters, he was enjoying it because in Memphis next week he would probably be followed by only 10 men and a dog.

Tiger Woods has withdrawn from his next tournament and goes home from Royal Portrush today saying he needs time off and wants to get ready for the Fedex playoffs. In 83 starts in a major its the first time that both he and Mickelson have missed the cut in the same event.

At his post round press conference Tiger said

“I kind of grinded my way around the golf course today. I had a chance to get it back to even par for the tournament. I didn’t handle the par-5s well. I was in perfect condition all three of them, if I handled those par 5s well I would be right there,” he said.

“It has been more frustrating than anything else because this is a major championship and I love playing in these events. I love the atmosphere. I love just the stress of playing in a major. And unfortunately, I’ve only had a chance to win one of them and was able to do it. But the other three I didn’t do very well.

And when asked where he thinks he will tee-up next Woods indicated would not in the city made famous by Elvis Presley.

“I’m going to take a couple of weeks off and get ready for the playoffs,” he said.

“We’ve got the playoffs coming up, and anything can happen. Last year I almost stole the whole FedExCup at the very end. If it wasn’t for Rosie’s little break there at the bunker, it could have been interesting.

“So get ready for those events. And after that then have a break.

“No, I just want some time off just to get away from it. I had a long trip to Thailand and then trying to get ready for this event, to play this event, it’s been a lot of travel, a lot of time in the air, a lot of moving around and different hotels and everything. I just want to go home.”

Woods had to have a 45 minute treatment on his back immediately following his second round and also ahead of day two of this week’s event.