The par-3 2nd at Memorial Park isn’t quite as iconic as Sawgrass, Augusta and Pebble Beach but Shane Lowry added another hole in one to his impressive collection at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Lowry, who has made a habit of holes in one in recent years, was celebrating again after his 170-yard (7-iron) tee shot disappeared for his fourth career ace on the PGA Tour.
“It’s pretty cool to make a 1, isn’t it? I made one at Pebble last year and that’s my first one since. Yeah, it’s a good start to my round. Unfortunately I didn’t kick on from there. But yeah, it’s pretty cool. Always nice. I’m pretty happy,” said Lowry who also bogeyed the 4th and birdied the 13th to close with a 68 for a share of 30th place on seven-under.
“Yeah, it was 170 and it was into a little draft. It was early in the morning and it was like a perfect sort of 75 7-iron. I have a little cut 75 7-iron that I hit and it just come out perfect. Nice high cut. I said to Darren, actually I was thinking it’s quite similar to the pin position at 6 at Augusta. I was thinking this is the type of shot you need to hit in there. I had a good visual for it and I just hit a beautiful shot. Yeah, it was good.”
Lowry was pleased to end his week on a high note following back to back missed cuts after his Cognizant Classic collapse and while Memorial Park isn’t in his wheelhouse he is feeling confident about his game heading into the Masters in two weeks.
The Offaly man is due to travel to Augusta on Sunday night.
“I played pretty good this week as well. I’m pretty happy with my week. I know I’m going to finish like mid 30s or something, but this golf course doesn’t suit my game at all. Kind of wanted to come and play here before Augusta and I think I got a lot of good out of it, so I’m happy.”
While the 2019 Open champion wasn’t able to land the first victory since 2022 that he should have in either Dubai or Florida, he feels he is back in the groove after previously playing for five weeks in a row.
“I hadn’t played here in a couple years, and to be honest, I played five in a row before THE PLAYERS. I would have liked to have played Tampa, I really love that golf course but I can’t play six in a row. I have to be somewhat clever with my schedule.
“Yeah, so I felt like I had to come play here because I don’t like playing the week before. Yeah, I just had to come play here. I’ve had a great week. We stayed in a beautiful hotel and we had a great time in Houston. I really enjoyed it. I’d like to come back here, but I’m pretty happy that the weather was good and the course firmed up because I’d hate to play here if it was soft. It would be very, very tough.”
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