Shane Lowry proudly muscled his way into the closing two rounds of the Masters admitting he had been inspired playing in the company of his golfing idol – Tiger Woods. Lowry fought back superbly from an opening round 74 to grab five birdies in a second round 69 for an eventual one-under par tally and two strokes inside the level par cut mark.
It was the first time Lowry and Woods had been grouped together in a major while it also is now only the second occasion in five Masters appearances Lowry will play all four rounds at Augusta National. The only other occasion Lowry made the Masters cut was in 2016 while a year earlier in 2015, his Masters debut, he missed the cut by a shot.
Lowry’s second round was a mix of five birdies and three bogeys, with the standout birdie being his brilliant chip-in at the par-4 14th where the reigning Open Champion holed his 19-yard chip shot from the front edge of the green Watching-on with his arms folded was Masters defending champion Woods. Woods then broke out in a big smile congratulating the Irishman with Lowry then seen walking up the 15th chatting to the five-time Masters winning Woods.
“I said to him walking up 15 it’s probably the second best chip I’ve ever seen on this course,” said Lowry (smiling). “His on 16 was a little better under the circumstances.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I got to play two rounds with my golfing idol the last couple of days around here. It’s just ‑‑ like I said yesterday or Thursday, it was a bit of a surreal experience, great guy to play with and I loved every minute of it, and I’m happy I made the weekend, and I’m hoping to kick on now.”
Lowry and Woods were among 46 players who returned to the course at 7.30am to complete their second rounds and with the duo, along with amateur Andy Ogletree, teeing-off the 11th hole. At the time, Lowry was lying at two-under, just inside the projected cut mark of level par. He bogeyed 12 to drop back to one-under through 30 holes but assured his place in the last two rounds with a birdie at the par-5 13th and then his stroke of brilliance at 14.
“There’s a lot of relief out there this morning,” he said. “I knew I needed it when I went out, and I made a great par on 11, hit a great shot in. Like going back off at 7:30 this morning I had 230 to the hole and it was cold and the ball wasn’t going very far and I hit a great 4‑iron and two‑putted out, and then I made the stupidest bogey ever on 12. It was playing easy this morning, it was a perfect little 9‑iron into the middle of the green and I pulled it over the back, but that’s what that hole does to you.
“But yeah, I was happy. The chip on 14 was just incredible. It was one of those where I said to Bo (caddie), just chip this to 20 feet, and it just came out perfect. It kind of checked on top of the hill. There’s probably not too many worse leaves on the golf course than there, so that was nice to do.
“And then I fatted a wedge shot on 15 that stayed on the bank, so yeah, the golfing gods were kind of on my side this morning, so hopefully I can go out this afternoon and kind of shoot a decent number. At the end of the day the scoring is probably going to be good, but who knows where the pin positions are. Yeah, I’m just happy to be in for the weekend and happy to get two more rounds around here.”
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