Lowry rolls into weekend with two-stroke lead at Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard

ORLANDO, Fla. – Shane Lowry’s fortunes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard seem to have taken a significant turn in the right direction.
 
After lackluster performances in his first five appearances at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge that included four missed cuts, the 2019 Open Championship winner finished third last year, and Lowry sits alone atop the leaderboard with a two-stroke lead heading into the weekend this year.
 
Following an opening-round 69, Lowry carded just one bogey Friday to go with six birdies en route to a 67 that left him in solid position at the tournament’s mid-way point. The 37-year-old Irishman held the lead or co-lead after each of the first three rounds last year, so isn’t entirely unfamiliar with being the player that the rest of the field is chasing coming down the stretch.
 
“Yeah, it’s funny – when you have success, especially at a difficult place like this, it doesn’t mean you come here the next year and you have a God-given right to go and play well,” Lowry said. “You still need to play your game and execute. So I was kind of conscious of that.
 
“Like I said to (my caddie) Darren this morning on the range, even though today’s conditions were a lot easier than yesterday, this golf course still doesn’t give you anything, so we need to really switch on and stick in today. Similar to yesterday. Yeah, I don’t know, just I guess when you start to see a few good shots around here and you start to see a few putts going in it makes it a bit easier.”
 
With Thursday’s gusty winds giving way to a much calmer Friday, conditions were more favorable, but thick rough and fast greens meant the course yielded few low scores. Lowry’s 67 was tied for the third lowest tally of the day, as Jason Day shot 64 and Sepp Straka carded a 66.
 
First-round leader Wyndham Clark is two shots off Lowry’s pace at 6-under par. Corey Conners  and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa are tied for third at 5-under, while one stroke behind him, Russell Henley is tied for fifth with two former API winners – Rory McIlroy (2018) and Day (2016).
 
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is tied for 12th at 1-under par and still very much in contention with two rounds to play.
 
Jackson Koivun, the Auburn sophomore who earned a sponsor exemption by winning the vote of his peers at the 2024 Palmer Cup, shot his second straight even par round and is tied for 19th. By making the cut, Koivun earned his 19th point in the PGA TOUR University Accelerated program. A top-10 finish this week would give him the 20 points necessary to earn a PGA TOUR card.
 
“I try not to think about it too much, just kind of let it happen,” Koivun said. “I know good golf takes care of itself. Go out there, play good, try to put myself into a good spot for hopefully that top 10, and obviously a made cut means a lot. My goal today was trying to inch up the leaderboard as much as I could.”
 
Fifty-one players in the limited field of 70 golfers made the cut. The Arnold Palmer Invitational features a purse of $20 million, with $4 million and 700 FedExCup points awarded to the 2025 champion. As one of the three player-hosted invitationals among the PGA TOUR’s Signature Events, the tournament features a cut after the second round to the top 50 players and ties, and any additional players within 10 strokes of the lead.