Congrats might be in order for Shane Lowry, who recorded his second straight top-20 finish at Augusta National. But coming off a joint-third last year, his tie for 18th place left him “disappointed, obviously” as he put it.
Disappointing describes the efforts of Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Seamus Power and Matthew McClean. Power managed to make the cut but had no effect on the finish. McIlroy and McClean exited after 36 holes.
The tournament proceeded in fits and starts as severe weather interrupted play on Friday and Saturday. Lowry shot 68 on Thursday and then followed with 72 and 73. Another 73 on Sunday left him 10 strokes adrift of champion Jon Rahm.
Lowry started the final round eight strokes off then-leader Brooks Koepka and began whittling away with birdies at the first two holes. But he then three-putted the third for bogey and was back to even with another bogey at the fifth. He steeled himself, got strokes back at the ninth and 11th but went bogey-double bogey at 14 and 15 before playing the final three holes evenly.
“I put a lot into this week and when I birdied 11, I thought, ‘You never know here,’ and great putt on 12 [for par] and then 14 and 15 just killed me,” Lowry said. “It’s extremely disappointing.”
At 15, his second shot cleared the pond fronting the green but rolled back into the water. He had a chance to escape with par but left his putt well short. He then took two more whacks with the mallet to clear the green.
“I was feeling it,” Lowry said. “I felt like if I made eagle there, and you go back to thinking of lads like Charl Schwartzel birdieing the last four to win and you feel like maybe you can do something special. I tried and I failed.
“I’ve come here the last two years with a good game plan and I’ve executed very well, and I’ve had two decent weeks. I’ve played good golf. My putter let me down this week. I love these weeks so much that I hate having to wait another year for this to come around.”
Power was unable to break par in four rounds, shooting 73, 72, 73 and 77. He was three strokes under par for the first round when he teed off at 17. A double bogey there and another at 18 changed the complexion of his round.
Power’s third round was an interesting contrast as he racked up equal numbers of birdies and bogeys (four) on the front nine. He started the final round on the 10th tee and was even through eight holes. The roof caved in then with bogeys at six of the next nine holes before he closed with birdie at the ninth. He tied for 46th place.
“It wasn’t my week this week but hung in there, I suppose, the best I could,” Power said. “See what I can do, hopefully get back the next year and give it another run.”
As for McIlroy, the best that can be said is that he got out early enough on Friday to finish his round before play was suspended and didn’t have to hang around to finish up on Saturday. Thursday’s 72 left him with work to do to catch the leaders but Friday’s 77 had him scrambling just to qualify for the weekend, which didn’t happen. He hustled off the grounds to fly back to Florida without addressing the media.
Matt McClean, in the field by virtue of winning last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur, shot 77 and 74 to miss the cut by four strokes. He got off to an auspicious start with birdie at the first hole and went to 2-under when he rolled in an eight-foot putt at the fourth. The round unraveled shortly thereafter.
A bogey at the fifth and a double at the seventh (brought about by an errant drive and three-putting) saw McClean fall out of red numbers for good. He then dropped four shots on the back nine. He was a stroke under par through 13 holes on Friday only to give three back over the five finishing holes.
“It was tough,” McClean said. “I was happy with the way I played and battled at the end there to make a lottery 4, which is a great way to finish. The week’s been great.”
