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 Going into the season-ending $8 million DP World Tour Championship,
the world number 18 was one of seven players still in contention to
win the Race to Dubai -- the continent's revamped Order of Merit.
However, Thursday's error-strewn opening round of 75 all but ended
his chances and although he improved to card a second-round 70 on
Friday, Lowry has now set himself more modest goals for the
remaining two days.
"It feels like it's playing pretty easy out there. I made a few
mistakes, another frustrating day," Lowry told reporters after
sinking three bogeys and five birdies for a one-over aggregate total
of 145.
"My goal was to shoot 68, get back under par, I'm just not playing
well enough to be shooting really low. I feel comfortable on the
greens, if I can drive a ball a little bit better tomorrow I could
shoot mid-60s," he added.
"I still reckon a good weekend and I can backdoor a top 10-15
finish. That's the goal."
The 28-year-old's form has slumped since winning the WGC-Bridgestone
Invitational in August. In six subsequent events, he has failed to
make the top-50 three times and only troubled the leaderboard at two
of them.
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"The game has been driving me mad the last three weeks. I'm looking
forward to having a decent weekend and nice week off next week, it's
badly needed," said Lowry, who began the Dubai event ranked fourth
on the money list.
The top 15 players will share an additional $5 million in prize
money.
"I have to look at the guys around me," added Lowry. "It's up to me
to try and finish as high up the Race to Dubai as I can, maybe
fourth or fifth position."
(Editing by John O'Brien)
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