Lowry shakes off lingering Cognizant hangover in time for Masters
Shane Lowry will rock up at Augusta National with a spring in his step for some Masters practice over the next two days after making the fourth hole-in-one of his PGA Tour career at the Texas Children's Houston Open.
While he closed with a two-under 68 to finish tied for 28th on seven-under, 14 shots behind fairytale winner Gary Woodland, the Offaly man felt it was a confidence-boosting result, admitting he'd dwelt too long on his late implosion at the Cognizant Classic four weeks ago.
The Clara man aced the 170-yard second at Memorial Park to add a fourth hole-in-one to an impressive hole-in-one collection that also features the 16th at Augusta National in the 2016 Masters, the "island green" 17th at TPC Sawgrass in the 2022 Players Championship and the iconic seventh at Pebble Beach last year.
"It's pretty cool to make a one, isn't it?" Lowry grinned when describing the cut seven-iron that carried the front right bunker and rolled into the cup, sparking a huge grin that's been absent from his bearded features for a month.
"It was a good start to my round. Unfortunately, I didn't kick on from there. But it's pretty cool.
"I said to (my caddie) Darren (Reynolds), it's quite similar to the pin position on six at Augusta. I was thinking it's the type of shot you need to hit in there, and I just hit a beautiful shot."
Lowry would have preferred to play the Valspar Championship last week, but that would have meant a sixth successive week on the road, and while Houston's light rough played into the hands of the big hitters, he was pleased to shoot four rounds in the sixties.
The hole-in-one was a welcome moment of joy for the 2019 Open champion, who double-bogeyed the 72nd hole to throw away a golden opportunity to win the Dubai Invitational on the DP World Tour in January.
He then blew a three-shot lead with three holes to play in the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach before going on to miss the cut in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.
"I obviously wanted to play a tournament, and I've come off the back of two missed cuts," said Lowry, who flew out of Houston directly to Augusta for two days of practice and plans to return there next Sunday.
"Obviously, I got off to a great start this season, and then at Bay Hill, Players, I wasn't very good. I think I might have let what happened at the Cognizant dwell over me for a bit longer than I should have.
"But it was nice to come out here and play four rounds and hit some really good shots, and I felt like I drove the ball well this week.
"But you just have to look at the top of the leaderboard. It's all 185-190 (mph) ball speed guys. This golf course is for them. But I'm pretty happy."
As for the tournament, Woodland won for the first time since the 2019 US Open. coming back from brain surgery that led to PTSD.
“Obviously, coming out with what I’m battling a couple of weeks ago definitely freed me up a little bit,” Woodland said after winning his fifth Tour title in record fashion. “It took a lot off my plate. It allowed me to focus my energy where I need to, and that’s on me and taking care of myself so I can chase my dreams.”
He shot 67 to win by five shots on 21 under par from Nicolai Hojgaard and revealed he’d had a guardian angel
“I’m wearing these shoes that were designed by Cece,” Woodland said of his footwear. “She’s battled a tough road for the last seven years and she’s still battling. I’m proud -- I wore these shoes with a lot of pride and I’m proud to be on her team.”
It was also a good day for England's Alex Fitzpatrick, who followed his older brother Matt into the winner's circle when he came from four shots off the lead to win the Hero Indian Open and his maiden DP World Tour title.
Just a week after Ryder Cup star Matt (31) followed his narrow loss in The Players Championship with a one-shot win in the Valspar Championship, Alex (27) claimed his maiden DP World Tour title by two shots from overnight leader and defending champion Eugenio Chacarra at DLF Golf & Country Club.
As a result, the Fitzpatricks became the first brothers to win back-to-back weeks on the PGA and DP World Tours.
While he took seven at the par-five 18th, Fitzpatrick shot 69 to the Spaniard's 75 to win by two strokes on nine-under par in his 87th start and earn €375,811.
"It feels amazing," said an emotional Fitzpatrick, who was six shots behind Chacarra after five holes before he made eight birdies in a 12-hole stretch from the sixth to take the lead.
"I feel a little more composed now than I was on the green. I've put in a lot of hard work and had a lot of doubts, I feel like I really stuck with it, especially over the past couple of years.
"This course is so hard that you almost have to forget the past shots or previous holes. I think on Friday I had nine birdies and I didn't know until I'd finished, and the same today."
As for emulating his brother Matt, who won the 2013 US Amateur before going on to win 12 times as a professional, including the 2022 US Open at the Country Club at Brookline, he's happy to have him as his guiding light.
"Hopefully I can continue to push on," he said. "It's great to join my brother Matt as a winner on the DP World Tour. It can be hard sometimes when you're constantly chasing someone's accolades, but luckily, it's my brother, so it's not horrific.
"It's extremely nice to join him in the winners' ranks and hopefully I can continue to push on. I idolise him, so I'm just trying to be like him in every way, so hopefully we can keep doing well."
On the LPGA Tour, Hyo Joo Kim held off Nelly Korda for the second week running to win the Ford Championship in Arizona.
