MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2021

Shane Lowry

Quick Quotes

Q. Thoughts on the day?

SHANE LOWRY: Frustrating, like the last few days. I feel like I've played good enough golf this week to be out there somewhere around Amen Corner with a chance to win the tournament. I just kind of made a few too many mistakes along the way.

You know, the 9th hole perfectly kind of sums up my week. I'm 2-under playing nine. I've got a great chance. Genuinely, on this course I'm thinking, if I can hole this now and kind of get a bit of a run going on the back nine, who knows? Then I three-putt that, and I'm like, oh, now I'm struggling again.

Look, I've thoroughly enjoyed my week because I feel like every day I come out and play this place I'm figuring it out a little bit better. I love the way I played this week.

Yeah, overall, when I sit back and look at it, I will be pleased about how things went, but it will be one of those weeks where I feel like I could have done a lot better.

Q. Was that second putt on 9 a lot harder than it looked?

SHANE LOWRY: Well, obviously. I missed it.

Q. It looked like a slider.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, a little left to right. I thought it was pretty straight, to be honest. I thought it was just rolling in there. I've cleaned up pretty well all week. I haven't really missed any of those. I was a little better around the hole. On the first putt, probably the pace wasn't great; knocking it three feet past, it was a bit clumsy. A little bit better pace on the first putt was the reason it was there.

Q. Pretty good putt to minimize the damage on 12 too, wasn't it?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I think I just picked the wrong line. I only missed my target where we picked by about four or five yards right. It wasn't that bad of a shot. Wind just hammered it.

Q. What are you learning about this course the more times you play it?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I think you just need to be -- when you get it on a day like today, you just really need to be ultra-conservative, and you will get your chances. Where if you're playing decent enough golf, you will get your chances out here. The likes of 12 for me are really -- it wasn't a great number. I really, really just should have got it in my head to hit it left of the hole over that bunker. Jack always says over that bunker, no matter where the flag is.

But the way golf is played now, you feel like -- I have a hard time aiming away from flags sometimes. That's why I think I don't really have -- I haven't really done too well around here because I struggle to be conservative. I struggle to not go at flags, and I struggle to aim away from flags. I just need to be a little more disciplined when I come back next year.

The tee shots and the whole place and everything about it, I feel like I'm starting to figure it out. Like I really am.

Q. What's your schedule going to be like going forward to the Open? Do you feel like you're trending in a good direction?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I do. I feel like, if I go on doing what I'm doing, I'll do something okay in the next while. I'm playing at Hilton Head next week. I have no idea what I'm going to do after that because my caddie has to go home tomorrow night. He can't work next week because of this new quarantine they've brought in in Ireland from the States. Who knows when I'll be able to go home to Ireland, if I'll be able to go home to Ireland.

I have no idea what my schedule is going to be leading up to the Open, but it's definitely going to be mostly over here. I don't know if I'll get back to play in Europe at all.

Q. Who's going to caddie for you?

SHANE LOWRY: I have no idea. Ireland brought in a quarantine rule from the U.S. for some strange reason on Thursday, and we just had to make a decision. Like he's waiting on his second dose of vaccine back home, I think, and he needs to go home and get everything sorted. I don't expect anyone to spend two weeks in a hotel for me in quarantine. I'm not going to do it, so I don't expect anyone else to do it.

There's a couple of guys who aren't playing next week and they're out there looking for a job. So I'll find a caddie out there somewhere.

Q. Do you feel like the rest of the season, the difference between Europe and the U.S. with the vaccines and all that is going to become an issue?

SHANE LOWRY: Well, I think right now, if you look at what the Irish government are out there doing, I think the Irish Open is going to be in trouble because they're out there putting France, Germany, and the U.S. on a quarantine for two weeks. So I don't know what's going to happen there.

You know, it's pretty s--- for me, to be honest, because I know things are tough for everybody at the minute, but my coach and my team are going home tomorrow, and I probably won't see them until the Open. It's not great, you know, because I want them over here for the big tournaments, the PGA and the U.S. Open. We'll see what happens. I don't know. Maybe there will be exemptions or something. I have no idea.

We're an Olympic sport now. Maybe we should get an exemption. I have no idea.

Q. After four days, what level of difficulty was this day, would you say?

SHANE LOWRY: I think it was a just a little harder -- or a little easier than the first day but harder than the last two days. So that was it.

Q. Do you feel like you leave here closer to the green jacket in terms of experience?

SHANE LOWRY: Look, I hope so. I'll tell you, like I walked down -- I bogeyed 11 on Friday. I was 3-over for the tournament, and I sort of resigned myself to the fact I was never going to win a green jacket. Then I played lovely the last few holes and then played nicely yesterday, and you kind of -- you start to build your hopes up again. So who knows?

Look, I truly -- I hope I get the chance someday. I just hope I get the chance. I just really want the chance to do it around Amen Corner someday. Like I'd love to be in those last few groups out there. It's not great when you're out there playing for 10th or 15th or whatever. It's much nicer when you're in contention.

Q. No reason you can't.

SHANE LOWRY: Exactly.