MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2023

Shane Lowry

Quick Quotes

Q. Did you strike the ball very well?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I played good when I came out this morning. I wanted to get back to level par for the day. I felt like if I did that, it would be a pretty successful morning. 1-under for the last nine holes is pretty good. I'm obviously a long way back, but I'm in a decent position into this afternoon.

Q. You had it tough yesterday.

SHANE LOWRY: We did, but everyone did. It was one of those days where I just -- it was a bit of a grind, and the weather was tough. I didn't make the pars when I should have and didn't birdie the two par-5s.

Made too many 5s. If you can keep them off your card, obviously, you're going to shoot a good score. So that was kind of the way yesterday went.

I'm obviously a long way back, but you never know.

Q. Not too far off from a decent finish?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, lying around 10th going into the final round here is pretty good. Obviously Brooks and Rahm and Viktor are doing something. But look at the run Viktor just did down the back nine. So it's out there.

Especially I feel, hopefully we get a few Sunday pins here that will give us some chances. I felt like the pins were quite difficult this morning actually and hard to get at. But, yeah, we'll give it a go.

Q. Did you change your approach on 15?

SHANE LOWRY: I said to Darren on the tee I normally hit low driver off there and it doesn't give me a chance to go for the green. I said to Darren I'm just going to try to make something happen here.

I went for a high draw and hit a great tee shot. Hit a 4-iron in and made a great shot. You know like, when the ball's in the air, you're at the mercy of the Gods then. It's like I just hit two great shots. Thankfully I rolled in that birdie because that would have been annoying.

I was trying to make eagle. I was trying to make something happen. Then I played the last three holes.

Q. You only missed one fairway?

SHANE LOWRY: I don't know to be honest. Missed the fairway on the second. Last year I decided to lay up in two. But this year I feel I'm driving the ball well enough to go for the tee shot.

Just going with how I feel. Needed to change my approach a little bit out there. Hit driver on the 3rd hole yesterday just because it's so windy that wedge shot from the top of the hill is so difficult.

Q. Do you feel like you just need to see a couple putts go in?

SHANE LOWRY: I felt like I putted nicely this morning. It's there. It's there in practice. I just need to let it happen. It's obviously quite frustrating. I feel like I probably should be doing better in this tournament considering how I struck the ball the last few days.

There's still a lot of positives there. I'm still very hopeful for this afternoon.

Q. I know you're worried about yourself and have work to do, but have you talked to Rory since Friday?

SHANE LOWRY: No.

Q. It's a difficult one, isn't it? He's a very close friend of yours, but do you feel for him, the pressure he's under here, and how difficult it is to do what he's trying to do? I'm sure you as a player understand.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I do. To be honest, I felt like he was going to have a good week this week. I spent a lot of time with him over the last couple of weeks.

But that's golf. A lot of times you don't get what you deserve. It's obviously been very tough for him. Look, I'll catch up with him next week. I'm sure he'll get over it. I'm sure he's fine.

Q. If you could say something to him.

SHANE LOWRY: I'm not the one to give Rory McIlroy any advice.