Shane Lowry admitted he was too “down and dejected” to join Rory McIlroy for his Masters celebrations and vowed not to give up as he chases his first individual win since 2022.
The Offaly man (39) was so devastated to close with an 80 and crash from fourth to tied 30th at Augusta National that there was no repeat of 2025, when he bought McIlroy a case of expensive wine and took it to that first Masters celebration.
The 2019 Open champion returned to action with a one-under 70 in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town that left him seven shots behind Ludvig Aberg.
He admitted it was difficult to get back to work after Sunday’s disappointment, but he also vowed not to throw in the towel.
“I woke up this morning, and I felt like Thursday came around pretty quickly this week,” Lowry told Golf Channel. “It's been a tough few days.
“You know, I felt like I played a lot of good golf last week and got really nothing out of it.
“It’s always hard to do that when you prepare so much for a tournament like that and perform as good as I did for a few days.
“But I try to take as many positives as I can. And today, I feel like it was always gonna be a tough enough round to get my kind of mojo back, and I felt like I played nice today.”
As for the Masters and McIlroy’s second win in a row, he admitted he was too disappointed to celebrate with the Holywood star on Sunday.
“Obviously, you know the stories from last year. I called over to his house with a case of wine and all that,” Lowry said.
“I texted him on Sunday night, and I said, ‘Honestly, I'm so happy for you, but I don't have it in me tonight to go over and celebrate’.
“I was feeling a bit down and dejected a little bit, so I just stayed at home with my crew, but I'll see him in a couple of weeks in Florida.”
Lowry has endured massive disappointments this year with late mistakes costing him wins in the Dubai Invitational and the Cognizant Classic.
The final round of the Masters was another huge blow, but he's not about to throw in the towel as he plays the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Brooks Koepka next week before catching up with McIlroy in the Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral in a fortnight
“This game has given me a lot of punches in the gut this year,” Lowry said. “It’s testing me a little bit, but, you know, I'm not going to stop working hard.
“I'm not going to give up, and I'm going to give my best for as long as I may be playing this game.”
He’s hoping that victory, when it eventually arrives, will be all the sweeter.
“That's the plan, anyway,” he said with a grin.
He has work to do to win this week, but he was upbeat about his performance.
“I hit the ball in play,” he said after making three birdies and two bogeys.
“It was windy out there. It was tricky on the back nine, and it was one of those days where I felt like it was in between clubs all the time, and I struggled to hit it close.
“But, you know, one under is not too bad, and hopefully I go out tomorrow, and I can shoot a low one.”
As for his game, he said, “I think if my putter gets hot, I’ll just be dangerous.
“I don't feel bad on the greens. I feel like I hit a good putt down the last and missed by a foot. It was just a bad read
“Honestly, I feel like if I hole a few putts, I'm doing a lot well.”
Meanwhile, Padaig Harrington was just two shots off the lead after opening with a four-under 68 in the Senior PGA in Florida.
He made six birdies at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton to share eighth place behind Brian Gay, Australia’s Steve Allan, Germany’s Bernhard Langer and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jiménez, who shot six-under 66s.
Darren Clarke was 76th after his two over 74.