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Before this week, Shane Lowry had never had a chance to compete with his golf idol Tiger Woods. In their third round together this week, Lowry got to witness some history and perseverance from “the greatest of all time.”
Woods, the five-time champion and defending Masters, posted his career-high score on a single hole at the shortest hole at Augusta, flushing three balls at Rae’s Creek en route to a gruesome 10 on the 12th par 3. .
Lowry birdied the same hole.
But it was what came next that caught Lowry’s attention. Woods birdied five of the next six holes to shoot 39 in the back and 76 for the day, finishing his Masters defense at 1-under and tied for 38th.
“Look, he had a little mess in that hole, didn’t he?” Lowry said.
“I’m not going to stand here and talk about it like I hit a couple of balls in the water and hit a really tricky bunker there. This is what Augusta is like when the wind blows like this … Yeah, look, it happened, and what an ending. It seemed to kill all the shots for the rest of the round.
“I mean, this is Tiger Woods, right? It is the best of all time. You know, I don’t think he cares if he finishes 30 or third here. A victory is all you are looking for. Like all of us, he is doing his best. He didn’t intend to hit a 10, as none of us intend to make bad shots or hit big numbers or bogeys or three, putting in the last to feel like an absolute jerk coming off the field, but it is what it is. . “
As disappointed as he was, Woods was proud to fight to make up five of the seven shots he missed on par.
“That is part of our sport,” he said.
“This sport is terribly lonely at times. You have to fight it. No one will get you off the mound or call a submarine. You have to fight it. That is what makes this game so unique and so difficult mentally. We have all been there. Unfortunately, I was there and you just have to turn around and think about the next shot, and I was able to do it when I got home. “
For the record, we should walk through the imperfect 10 of Woods. In 89 previous rounds of Masters, Woods had only done worse than bogey three times at irritating par 3: a pair of doubles and a triple. A year ago, the 12th made a comeback when he safely sailed it alongside three other contenders, Francesco Molinari, Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau, each hitting the creek and doubled there.
On Sunday, however, he was quick sideways. His tee shot dangled in the wind and hit the shore near the green, rolling back into the water. After his fall, his wedge hit the middle of the green just 12 feet from the hole before spinning backward, stopping for just a second and then rolling inexorably down the edge again.
His third attempt sailed to a difficult spot in the rear bunker, where, with awkward posture, he returned it to the green towards Rae’s Creek. Executing the same shot again from the bunker, he dribbled it onto the green and scored two putts for the first double-digit score on any hole of his professional career.
“Well, I committed to the wrong wind,” Woods said.
“The wind was contrary to the right for the first two guys, and then when I got in there it shifted to howling to the left. The 11th flag howled down the left. I didn’t compromise with the wind, and I also went ahead and pushed it too, because I thought the wind would come more from the right and from the left, and that started the problem from there. From there, I did a lot more shots and had a lot more experiences there at Rae’s Creek, and then like you said, this is unlike any other sport where you’re so lonely and you have to figure it out. “
Seeing everything from Tiger’s ghost-free opening 68 in the first round to his last round was enlightening for Lowry. Fighting himself from a starting 74, putting together back-to-back rounds in the 60s and playing the full week was beneficial when he returns to a more traditional April Masters in less than five months.
“I could only see how it was playing; We didn’t see Augusta like we normally do the first three days, ”said Lowry, who shot 73 on Sunday to finish 4-under and tied for 25th, his best result at Augusta.
“Today on the 12th hole… I have never been so happy to see a ball land on dry land. Things like that second shot at 15 you’re just getting it right, and if you have a burst, you’re in trouble, and that’s it. That is what we love about this place.
Look, I’m pretty happy with my week. I am disappointed in how I ended up. In fact, I gave myself a lot of opportunities today, especially on the last holes. Since I probably should have birdied 15, I should have birdied 17, and then I had a great chance at last, and what a bad three putts. That’s silly.
“The Masters will reappear very quickly, won’t it? It’s hard to believe Christmas is in a couple of weeks and we’re here on Augusta Sunday. It will be strange. But it will be good to come back here in April as usual ”.
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