Shane Lowry surged up the Valspar Championship leaderboard with a four-under-par 67 at the Innisbrook Resort in Florida on Friday.
The Offaly man opened with a level-par 70 yesterday, but he absolutely flew out of the blocks on day two.
Starting on the back nine, Lowry drained an eight-foot putt to birdie his first hole, then tapped home from a couple of feet on the 11th to move to two-under. He birdied 12 to make it three from three and then sank one from nine feet to get to -4 through five holes.
It was a sensational start, and when he got himself to six-under after another biride on the par-three 17th, it looked like he might blow the field away.
However momentum spluttered slightly after he slid a six-foot par putt past the cup to give a shot back, with another bogey on the last hole of his round leaving Lowry on four-under overall.
Still, it represented a good day at the office as the late starters took to the course.
He's just two shots off American Jacob Bridgeman, who leads the way on six-under after his second-round 69. South Korea's Byeong-Hun An, Ryo Hisatsune of Japan and the Norwegian Viktor Hovland are one shot behind Bridgeman in second.
Lowry, Kevin Velo, Xander Schauffele and Jeremy Paul are a further shot back on four-under-par.
Seamus Power went backwards with a one-over 72 that leaves him level par for the tournament.
Power was three shots off the clubhouse lead after shooting a first-round 70 on Thursday, but he couldn't really build on that today, picking up two birdies and a couple of bogeys.
