Lowry fires course record to lead Irish Open as McIlroy feels 'frustration'

Shane Lowry stormed clear at the Amgen Irish Open with a course-record 62; Rory McIlroy sits nine strokes back

Shane Lowry broke the course record and raced top of the leaderboard on home soil at the Amgen Irish Open, as Rory McIlroy was left feeling "frustration" in his putting.

Lowry mixed nine birdies with a lone bogey during a brilliant eight-under 62 at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel, lifting him to 11 under and three strokes clear of the rest of the morning starters.

The former Open champion's closest challenge from his half of the field came from Haotong Li and Jacob Skov Olesen, who posted rounds of 63 and 64 respectively to move to eight under, with Tom McKibbin among those six strokes back.

Patrick Reed heads into the weekend on four under, with Jon Rahm and Robert MacIntyre another shot adrift, with Rory McIlroy nine off the halfway lead after struggling on the greens during a second successive 69.

First-round leader Joaquin Niemann and England's Tyrrell Hatton were among the later starters.

Lowry, who won this tournament in 2009 as a 22-year-old amateur, was playing in the group behind McIlroy and saw crowds for him grow after a run of three consecutive birdies from the third.

He holed a long-range putt at the seventh and picked up further shots over the next two holes to race to the turn in 30, then added back-to-back birdies from the 11th to leave Lowry briefly on '59 watch'.

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Lowry's hopes of a sub-60 round suffered a setback with a three-putt bogey from 20 feet at the 13th, although he bounced back by birdieing the 15th and closed out his record-breaking round with three straight pars.