<p>Shane Lowry of Ireland plays a stroke from the No. 2 tee during the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 09, 2026.</p>
Shane Lowry rolled with the punches like a heavyweight champion and cancelled out an early four-putt with a hole-out eagle at the 13th to open with a two-under 70 at the Masters.
The Offaly man could not have asked for a better start in his 11th appearance at Augusta National, where he ripped an eight iron to just a few inches at the first and two putted for birdie at the second to get to two under after two.
He had a chance to go three under after three, but after missing from eight feet at the third, he four-putted from just off the back edge for a double-bogey five at the fourth, taking three to get down from no more than five feet.
"I felt like I didn't miss a shot in the first four holes, and obviously had that mishap on the fourth green," Lowry said. "And you can get a bit disheartened or dejected by that, but I felt like, you know, I'm in a good frame of mind to kind of just move on and move on from everything.
"I've been around here enough to know that that could happen at certain stages. Obviously, it's not ideal if it happens."
That blow at the fourth could have flattened Lowry's Masters bid, especially after he bogeyed the short sixth to go one over.
But he made a brilliant par at the seventh, chasing his second from right of the trees into the front right bunker before making a nine-footer for his four.
It was almost all gravy from there as he got up and down from 50 yards at the eighth for a birdie, rattled in a 30-footer at the ninth to turn in one-under.
<img alt="" height="4368" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52780078e4b0782c048f31cb/9d06cbc3-266a-4152-9eea-305a838c5c13/26SB_57452.jpg?format=1000w" width="7643" />
<p>Shane Lowry of Ireland plays a stroke on No. 7 during the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 09, 2026.</p>
"I know, I know, I bogeyed six, but I made a great par save on seven, and birdied eight and nine, and that kind of really got me going," he said.
"And I really felt like I plotted my way around the course nicely today."
Flawless through Amen Corner, he had chances at the 10th, 11th and 12th, and while they didn't drop, he holed a 68-yard lob wedge at the 13th for eagle.
While he failed to birdie the 15th and dropped a shot at the treacherous 17th, hoiking his second left into the grandstand, he got a lucky ricochet out of the trees at the 18th and almost holed his four iron.
On the 13th, he said: "To be honest, it's been a number that I'm not overly comfortable with, or haven't been, and I did work on it a lot over the last two weeks, so it was nice to pull it off.
"I knew when I 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."
While the 13th was a bonus, the resilience he showed at the seventh was the key to Lowry's day as the course dried out and putting became treacherous.
"I was here last Monday and Tuesday on both days, it was the same pin on seven.
"I was playing with Mr Carr here (Irishman John Carr) beside us, and I knew the read on the putt perfectly, because I had it a couple of days ago.
"To be honest, I didn't think they'd use the pin in the tournament. It's on such a slope, but, yeah, I rolled that one in nicely, and that gave me a bit of a kickstart for the rest of the round."
He bogeyed the 17th, trying not to miss the green to the right, but made up for it at the 18th with a four iron that ran just over the back — “That was the best shot all day” — setting up a two-putt par.
While a 70 was not spectacular, it put Lowry right in the hunt at a masters he believes could be one of the toughest in years.
"I think this could be the toughest Masters we've played in a while," he said. "You look at the forecast, they can do whatever they want with the golf course this weekend.
"I think over the last few years, we've had a day every year where there's been heavy rains, and it's kind of helped us a little bit.
"But I think before the week's out, it's going to get very, very crusty around here."
Vastly experienced now as a Masters participant, Lowry knows he's going to make mistakes and it's how reacts that's going to be key.
"You can't try and be perfect around here, you just have to try and hit the shots, commit to your shots, and see where it leaves you and go from there.
"And I think I did a good job of that today, and hopefully I can do it for the next few days."
Article Link: Eagle helps Lowry roll with the punches and card opening 70 at Augusta - News - Irish Golf Desk