Recriminations? Sure, they had a few. But the glass is viewed as more than half full by Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry after they finished second and third, respectively, behind Scottie Scheffler in the Masters.
McIlroy was scuffling about well below the upper precincts of the leaderboard until he got hot and closed with 64, capped off with an audacious chip-in from a bunker at 18, that saw him rocket to sole possession of second place.
McIlroy, whose Masters history is tracking Greg Norman’s, got the Sunday round he’d long been hoping for – a 64 that tied the tournament record for best final round. After converting an eagle putt at 13 to go 7-under for his round and draw to within four strokes of Scheffler, McIlroy’s adrenaline appeared to go into overdrive as tee shots began to skew well off the fairway, a problem he’s dealt with in recent forays to the Middle East.
Par saves at 14 through 17 were the best he could muster until his exclamation point birdie at 18 that can only be done justice by being seen. That he finished as seemingly “close” to Scheffler as he did – three strokes back – can be attributed as much to Scheffler four-putting 18 as anything McIlroy did. Rather than lament any missed chance he might have had by letting Scheffler steal away in the early going, McIlroy was jubilant after Sunday’s round.
KEEPING THE FOOT DOWN
“Finally, we had a day here where you could get after it,” McIlroy said after recounting his travails in windy conditions earlier in the year. “I just sort of thought to myself, you know, what the hell, let’s just give it a go here and I started off really well with a birdie on 1 and then just tried to keep the foot down.
“I played great today and I’ve actually had a really, really good weekend. I’m proud of my performance. So, you know, I’ll keep coming back here year after year until I get the hang of this thing and hopefully get one. I don’t think I’ve ever walked away from this tournament as happy as I am today. I’ll certainly look back on this day with very fond memories.”
Lowry, who matched McIlroy’s opening 73, became a contender with Friday’s 68. After starting Saturday’s round with two birdies in the first six holes, he played the rest of his round three strokes over par. Starting the final round seven strokes behind Scheffler, he pretty much closed the door to a title run with a triple-bogey 6 at the fourth hole. But he trimmed five strokes off par the rest of the way to finish level with Cameron Smith, whose misfortunes on the back nine make Lowry’s woes pale in comparison.
Lowry described the manner in which he finished Sunday’s round as “very pleasing” and a “so near and so far type thing.” He admitted to being “a bit clever” regarding the shot at the fourth that led to the triple bogey but otherwise saw nothing but positives.
“The big thing I can take away from the last two days being in contention around here is how comfortable I felt on the golf course,” Lowry said. “I don’t know many chances [I’m] going to get to win the green jacket. I’ve got so many positives to take from it. It’s kind of onwards and upwards from here.”
Shane Lowry, who shared third place with Cameron Smith for a top-4 finish, said it’s “onwards and upwards from here” in the Masters. INPHO/MORGAN TREACY
POWER FINALLY SEES IT
Seamus Power did well to earn a share of 27th place at 4-over 292 (74-74-74-70) in his Masters debut. Despite playing his first 27 holes without a birdie, he made the cut on the number. He seemed to have figured something out by Sunday, when he managed five birdies, which exceeded by one the total he’d accrued over the initial 54 holes.
“It felt like a birdie fest out there for me,” Power said after Sunday’s round. “I hit a lot of good stuff today. This is kind of what you picture. It’s perfect weather, sun shining, really fast greens and just light breeze. It was beautiful out there.”
Power gave credence to something he’d long heard about Augusta National but needed to experience himself to verify it.
“You really realize that you just have to hit very, very good shots,” Power said. “It’s like people tell you little things, like 12 has got to be the very exact shot. Coming in, you’re like, ‘It can’t be that exact,’ but then you really do see it. You are hitting reasonably good shots and they’re ending up in tough spots. That’s why whoever is going to win today is going to be the best player, which is all you can ask for from a course, really.”
Padraig Harrington returned for his first Masters since 2015 and briefly led the tournament on Thursday after birdies at the third and fourth holes. He gave those back at the fifth and seventh, however. He finished the round with 74, a repeat of which would have been good enough to make the cut. But he signed to 75 on Friday and was one stroke over the line.
