Jon Rahm back in the mix, Shane Lowry misses frustrating 18th hole as Marco Penge leads Spanish Open presented by Madrid | Golf news

Jon Rahm returned to contention for the weekend, but his Ryder Cup winning teammate Shane Lowry missed the cut on the second day of the Spanish Open presented by Madrid.

The European pair both disappointed in their return to action on Thursday, a fortnight after helping Luke Donald’s side to a memorable away victory in New York, each firing above-par opening rounds around Madrid’s Club de Campo Villa.

And while both were back under par on Friday, Lowry’s three-under 68 left him one shot outside the par-level cut line.

Lowry was back to par for the tournament after going from four under to 14, but a dropped shot for the second day in a row at the par-four 16th proved costly.

After a par at 17, the Irishman gave himself a chance to make it through the weekend by leaving a 15-footer on the 18th green but, two weeks after sinking the putt that allowed Europe to retain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black and spark wild celebrations, this time Lowry’s ball sailed agonizingly beyond the right side of the hole, sealing his fate in the Spanish capital.

Lowry got on his knees and slapped the outside of his legs in frustration.

Moments later, his playing partner Rahm, frustrated by Thursday’s windy conditions, carded his seventh birdie of his impressive day for a round of 66 to arrive at five under for his home event.

But the Spaniard, a three-time tournament winner, remains five shots behind the leader, with everyone chasing in-form Englishman Marco Penge.

The Race to Dubai competitor finished his round with back-to-back birdies to take the lead at nine under after a four-under 67.

Penge is a two-time winner on the DP World Tour this year and came into third place this week in the overall season standings behind Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton.

“Very patient day, nice to have a bogey-free round,” Penge said. “I played pretty solid, there are still a few things I can improve on, but overall it was a consistent round of golf.

“I had a good range session after my round yesterday, so today was slightly better – still probably only about a seven out of 10, but hopefully I can play better golf this weekend.”

The Englishman is one stroke ahead of the Dane Jeff Winther – who shot the best round of 64 on Friday – and the Swiss Joel Girrbach (65) and the Canadian Aaron Cockerill (67).

Another Englishman, Dan Brown, is tied at six at seven under after a second-round 66, that group also including Swede Joakim Lagergren after matching Winther’s 64.

Spaniard Sergio Garcia, winner in 2002, shot a score of under 70 to secure his place in the weekend field with a score of one under overall.

Watch the Spanish Open presented by Madrid this week with third round coverage starting Saturday at 12:30 p.m., live on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and more contract-free with NOW.

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