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Lowry hit the ground running, carding two birdies to sit -2 thru 2, before a disastrous scene at the fourth.<\/p>\n
Having reached the green in regulation, Lowry had a simple three-feet putt for par. Three putts later, he had carded a spectacular double bogey.<\/p>\n
A three-putt double bogey from three feet has undone some good early work for Shane Lowry \ud83d\ude33pic.twitter.com\/hShrg253L8<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Another bogey followed at 6, but Lowry recovered his composure with birdies at 8 and 9 to go out in 35.<\/p>\n His chip-in eagle at the 13th was Lowry’s finest moment of the day, and brought him to -3 down the back nine.<\/p>\n Sublime from Shane Lowry at the 13th \ud83e\udd85<\/p>\n A triple-putt double bogey and a chip-in eagle both part of a nuts first round at Augusta for the Offaly manpic.twitter.com\/liZMyIZapl<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n However, another bogey at 17 would see Lowry ultimately card a 70 to sit three shots back from clubhouse leader and compatriot Rory McIlroy.<\/p>\n Overall, this was a more-than-solid opening round from Lowry, and he has only carded a lower opening-day score than Thursday’s 70 on two separate occasions.<\/p>\n It was, though, a wildly inconsistent round, with Lowry carding an eagle, four birdies, two bogeys, and a double bogey en route to that 70.<\/p>\n Lowry was overall content while speaking to the Masters’ media team, and delivered a brilliant line when questioned about McIlroy’s impressive opening round.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n READ HERE: Former Major Winner Kicked Out Of 2026 Masters For Breaking Strict Augusta Rule<\/a><\/p>\n READ HERE: Join The Balls.ie Pool For The 2026 Masters And You Could Win A \u20ac250 Voucher From McGuirk’s Golf<\/a><\/p>\n Shane Lowry on Masters Round One<\/p>\n Shane Lowry’s close friend Rory McIlroy was tied for the clubhouse lead with Sam Burns at the conclusion of his round, a superb opening to his Masters defence.<\/p>\n With Lowry only three shots back, there are two Irishmen right in the mix – but he had a brilliant response when asked how it felt to be alongside McIlroy towards the top of the leaderboard.<\/p>\n “Yeah, he’ll probably kick on now and win about four in a row or something,” Lowry joked.<\/p>\n “Isn’t it great to see him up there? He’s a hard one to beat. I don’t know…”<\/p>\n Though Lowry delivered the line through laughter, it was clear that he finds the prospect of chasing down McIlroy for a green jacket of his own a daunting prospect.<\/p>\n Overall, the 39-year-old seemed content with his performance on day one.<\/p>\n It was pretty good, I’m pretty happy. Obviously, I got off to a great start…I was feeling great.<\/p>\n Then, obviously, a little mishap on the fourth. I thought I did a great job of kicking on from there. I know I bogeyed six, but I made a great par save on seven and birdied eight and nine. That really got me going.<\/p>\n I really felt like I plotted my way around the course nicely today.<\/p>\n Lowry would delve deeper into that par save at the seventh, saying that it was a pivotal moment which was born during his practice rounds, and which helped steady the ship.<\/p>\n “It’s funny, I was here last Monday and Tuesday,” Lowry said.<\/p>\n “Both days, it was the same pin on seven. I knew the read on the putt perfectly because I had a couple of days. To be honest, I didn’t think they’d use the pin in the tournament, it’s on such a slope!<\/p>\n “Yeah, I rolled that one in nicely and that kind of gave me a little bit of a kickstart for the rest of my round.”<\/p>\n Lowry, though, had a word of warning for his fellow competitors.<\/p>\n The Irishman said that he feared this would be one of the most difficult Masters tournaments in a long time, and would only get more difficult as the weekend progressed.<\/p>\n “I think this could be the toughest Masters we’ve played in a while,” Lowry said.<\/p>\n You look at the forecasts…they can do whatever they want with the golf course this weekend.<\/p>\n I think, over the last few years, we’ve had a day every year where it’s been rained out or it’s been heavy rains and it’s kind of helped us a little bit.<\/p>\n I think, before the week’s out, it’s going to get very, very crusty around here.<\/p>\n Words of warning from Shane Lowry.<\/p>\n The Irishman tees off at 5:56pm Irish time on Friday.<\/p>\n SEE ALSO: Rafael Nadal Was An Especially Keen Rory McIlroy Fan On Stellar Masters Thursday<\/a><\/p>\n
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