Watch Shane Lowry's shot of the day as McIlroy begins Masters defence strongly
Shane Lowry had the shot of the day at the first round of The Masters as Rory McIlroy finished his round tied for the lead.
McIlroy shot a great 67 to begin his Green Jacket defence as a strong second nine had him level with American Sam Burns at 5-under-par as he headed for the clubhouse.
The reigning champion dropped one shot all round, with a bogey on the third, as he managed to get three birdies in a row on the 13, 14 and 15 to finish his round on a high. He had a sense of calm and confidence going around Augusta National, clearly showing the effect of finally winning the big one 12 months ago.
Rory McIlroy. Pic: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
‘I thought I would feel different, but then I put my tee in the ground and my ball on the tee on the first hole and I felt the same nerves I always feel,’ McIlroy said following his round.
‘It’s a great start, I’m right in the tournament, and it’s a lot better than starting from seven behind going into the second round like I was last year.
‘But I can’t get ahead of myself as there’s a long way to go, but feeling good where I’m at.’
Pic: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
For Lowry, he had an up and down round but is well in the mix at -2 after Thursday. He began strongly with two birdies out of the gate, before a double bogey at the fourth brought him back down to even.
He would get to +1 soon after, but birdies at 8 and 9 would get him back into the swing of things before he holed a 68-yard wedge shot for an eagle on 13, which was shot of the day for many.
Shane Lowry. Pic: David Cannon/Getty Images
He would finish his round with a bogey to score 70 for the round. ‘To be honest, it’s been a number that I’m not overly comfortable with,’ Lowry said about that eagle on 13. ‘I did work on it a lot over the last two weeks, so it was nice to pull it off.
‘I knew when it was in the air it was really good, and it was going to go close, but it was nice to see it go in. It kind of gave me a little jump for the rest of the round.
‘I don’t feel like I drove her very well on the way in, so I’d like to clean that up for tomorrow. But other than that, it was pretty nice.’
Pic: Hector Vivas/Getty Images
Both McIlroy and Lowry tee off their second rounds very late on Friday, with Lowry’s group of himself (-2), Dustin Johnson (+1) and Jason Day (-3) at 5:56 pm Irish Time.
Rory McIlroy (-5), Cameron Young (+1) and amateur Mason Howell (+5) are the second last group out for the day, teeing off at 6:44 pm Irish time.
