Despite late mistakes Shane Lowry can take a lot of positives from his opening round 72 at The Masters.
After a rollercoaster front nine the Clara man turned in one under par and stood at two under in the middle of the Par 5 15th facing a 240 yards approach. Lowry chose to play the percentages and laid up but a three putt bogey followed by another on the 16th dropped him back from a prime position.
“If you had given me level par on the first tee I would have taken your hand off,” Lowry said. “It was very tough out there. I played as good as I have played in a long time.”
“I am really happy with how I played, and while it was disappointing to bogey 15 and 16, I hit good shots on those two holes and got a gust of wind with my lay-up on 15 which left me too far back. Then I didn’t get the gust on 16 and I was probably two yards from having an eight-footer for birdie.”
“It was one of those days — it was so tough that you were happy with every par and I am happy I made a few birdies. I am very happy with that.”
“I just need to go out tomorrow and keep doing what I am doing. I drove the ball great today, and my iron play was really solid. My chipping felt really good for the first time in a long time today.”
“That seven under from Charley Hoffman was probably one of the best scores you’ll ever see. The wind was gusting to 25-30 mph and it is hard to know when it is going to gust and when it is not. I am good at doing that when I get on tough golf courses and today was no different.”
“You sometimes feel hard done by out there,” he said. “The 16th was playing 170 yards, and there was wind gusting out of the left and water left, and I hit the most beautiful seven iron and I go up there, and I have the hardest two-putt you can get on the top of the hill.”
“It is one of those courses that is like that and when you throw this wind in there as well, it is even more difficult.”
“But I seem to be quite good at getting into a decent frame of mind on tough golf courses when it is tough conditions. “
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