Most golfers will tell you they don’t look at the leaderboard during their round. Shane Lowry was transfixed.
The Offaly native carted around Augusta National in 68 fantastic shots, during a first round that puts him right in the mix.
Lowry was -5 going to the turn before dropping a stroke around Amen Corner and finishing out with five pars. His driving and iron play were so good that he was left ruing some missed putts.
If he had sank a couple more 10-12 footers, he could well have shared the outright lead with Jordan Spieth.
. @ShaneLowryGolf was egged on by seemingly everyone in Ireland as he finished Day One in joint second https://t.co/BOgFPTvFry
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 7, 2016
Speaking in the press tent after his round, Lowry had reporters laughing with his jokes about the ferocious Irish wind. He also spoke with refreshing honesty about starting at the leaderboard and yearning for that famous Green Jacket.
“I was looking all day. It was there all day. It’s nice. It’s nice.
“Going out, I’ve seen Jordan was going quite well, and I seen Poults [Ian Poulter] at 6‑under, which is a great score out there. It was nice to try to get as close as I could to him. Obviously it’s early doors yet, but it’s nice.”
Lowry admitted that, having started so well, it will be hard not to let the mind wander to thoughts of green jackets and log cabins.
“I mean, it’s hard not to [think about it].
“I’m sure I’m going to be sitting back tonight thinking at some stage about wearing a green jacket. I’m only human. I’m going to do that.
“But I’ve just got to kind of give myself a slap in the face and get myself back into reality and try to get down to business and keep hitting good shots and see where that leaves me.”
As for his plans for later today, Lowry set us all at ease with these comments:
“[I’m] going to stand on the first and try to hit it straight and hit it on the green and go from there. That’s the way I play golf.
“We’ll see what the weather is like in the morning, see what the wind is like and what direction it is, and we’ll take it from there.”
Another fascinating day of play is in store.
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