Rob Lowe got himself a birdie. Unfortunately, it was a goldfinch, and it wasn't moving. On the par-4 fourth hole at Glen Oaks Country Club, Lowe's approach accidentally struck what appeared to be a young goldfinch in mid-flight.

"I saw it was going left," the 43-year-old Lowe recalled after finishing his round at the Principal Charity Classic Pro-Am. "I was hoping it would hit something ..

. and bounce onto the green. Instead, it hit the bird.

"That," Champions Tour pro Dan Pohl said, "was probably his shot of the day." In other words, as a golfer, Lowe is a pretty good actor. But at least the man has a sense of humor.

His gallery was the place to be Wednesday afternoon, as long as you brought along a helmet. "It's really hard to concentrate and then meet people and then go back and concentrate," said Lowe, who played 18 holes while wearing a University of Iowa hat, courtesy of one of his partners, Hawkeye athletic director Gary Barta. "(As) I have no claim to an actual game, it was really great.

If anything, it probably helped because people were so supportive." When the sun finally broke through, the crowds swelled. If you could walk away from one of Lowe's holes, chances are, you walked away happy.

"I asked him how his wife dealt with that," Barta chuckled. The two shared a cart, so the Iowa administrator spent a good chunk of his afternoon taking pictures of Lowe posing with wave after wave of young ladies. "He said she knew what she was getting into when she got married (to him).

" Bigger draw: Lowe or Hawkeye football coach Kirk Ferentz? "I'll tell you, in the state of Iowa, it's a toss-up," Barta said. "I'd say Kirk is probably more popular than Rob Lowe.

Maybe not with women. There were a lot of girls and women who were interested in getting Rob's autograph." Some even got a little more than that.

On the par-4 No. 6, Lowe's tee shot voomed left of the fairway and had eyes for one of the hole marshals, Marie Michels of Clive. Luckily, this one just missed.

It clanged hard off a metal pole a few feet in front of her. The actor, who's currently appearing on ABC-TV's "Brothers Sisters," felt so bad that before his second shot, he walked over to Michels, gave her an autographed ball, a comforting hug and a quick peck on the cheek. "Lucky you," a woman in the gallery gushed.

"How much better can that be?" Michels giggled. "I just said, 'Look, don't sue me, please,' " Lowe cracked later.

"I can't have that kind of publicity right now." And to think: This was Lowe's first trip to Iowa. The Virginia native said he came on a whim, at the behest of Ray Cole, general manager of WOI-TV, even though he hadn't picked up a club in more than a year.

It looks so easy on television. Then again, so does heart surgery. Lowe compared the links to wrestling a bear, "because when you get good at it, you really feel like you've accomplished the impossible.

But in the end, it's a bear, so it's going to flip you and kill you." So what you're saying is ..

. Just ask the birds. Columnist Sean Keeler can be reached at (515) 284-8102 or sekeeler@dmreg.

com The Register's standards: What we'll allow, what we won't From the editor: Inviting robust conversation, but spelling out a few rules Rob Lowe got himself a birdie.