Shane Lowry of Ireland plays a stroke from the No. 11 tee during Practice Round 2 for the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Shane Lowry knows he must become a more tactical and conservative golfer if he’s to follow in the footsteps of Japan’s first male Major winner Hideki Matsuyama and win the Masters.

The Clara man, who slammed Government’s draconian new quarantine laws as potentially disastrous for July’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, finished a Masters career-best tied 21st on level par after closing with a “frustrating” 72.

Despite making 16 birdies, he finished 10 shots behind overnight leader Matsuyama (29), who saw his four-shot overnight lead reduced to a single stroke after an opening bogey, stretched his lead to six shots with seven holes to play before overcoming a wobble down the stretch with some help from Xander Schauffele, carding a one-over 73 to win by a stroke from 24-year old rookie Will Zalatoris (70) on 10-under par.

Matsuyama bogeyed the 12th to see his lead reduced to five shots over Schauffele, Zalatoris and Jordan Spieth then followed a birdie at the 13th with a bogey six at the 15th, where he overshot the green and found the pond on the far side.

“I feel like I’ve played good enough golf this week to be out there somewhere around Amen Corner with a chance to win the tournament. I just made a few too many mistakes along the way”

— Shane Lowry

With Schauffele making birdie there, Matsuyama’s lead was reduced to just two shots. But Schauffele found water at the 16th and ran up a triple-bogey six to Matsuyama’s three-putt bogey to leave the eventual champion two ahead of clubhouse leader Zalatoris on 11-under with two holes to go.

A renowned ball-striker, Matsuyama chiselled out a textbook par four at the 17th before two-putting from eight feet for bogey after finding a greenside bunker at the 18th to follow in the footsteps of female compatriots Chako Higuchi (1977 LPGA Championship) and Hinako Shibuno (2019 Women’s British Open) and become a Major champion.

Schauffele shot 72 to tie for third on seven-under with Spieth (70) with Jon Rahm (66) and Australian Marc Leishman (73) tied fifth on six-under as Justin Rose faded to seventh after a 74.

It was a hugely impressive performance by Matsuyama and an important week too for Lowry, who knows what he has to do to one day challenge for that coveted green jacket.

“Frustrating, like the last few days,” Lowry said of his final round 72. “I feel like I've played good enough golf this week to be out there somewhere around Amen Corner with a chance to win the tournament. I just made a few too many mistakes along the way.”

The Clara man bogeyed the first but after making birdies at the second, fifth and seventh to get to two-under for the tournament, he three-putted the ninth from 10 feet to dash his faint hopes of mounting a final day charge.

He went on to bogey the 12th after finding water with his tee shot but while he got that shot back with a birdie at the 13th, he dropped a shot at the last after driving into the trees.

“The ninth hole perfectly kind of sums up my week,” Lowry sighed. “I'm two-under playing nine. I've got a great chance. Genuinely, on this course, I'm thinking, if I can hole this now and kind of get a bit of a run going on the back nine, who knows? Then I three-putt that, and I'm like, oh, now I'm struggling again.

“Look, I've thoroughly enjoyed my week because I feel like every day I come out and play this place I'm figuring it out a little bit better. I love the way I played this week.”

Despite his many mental errors, he knows he has to become a more tactical player if he’s ever to contend for the green jacket.

“When you get it on a day like today, you just really need to be ultra-conservative, and you will get your chances,” he said. “The likes of 12 for me, I really, really just should have got it in my head to hit it left of the hole over that bunker. Jack [Nicklaus] always says over that bunker, no matter where the flag is.

“But the way golf is played now, I have a hard time aiming away from flags sometimes. That's why I haven't really done too well around here because I struggle to be conservative. I struggle to not go at flags, and I struggle to aim away from flags. I just need to be a little more disciplined when I come back next year.”

Asked if he saw a green jacket in his future, he laughed and said: “Look, I hope so. I'll tell you, bogeyed 11 on Friday. I was three-over for the tournament, and I sort of resigned myself to the fact I was never going to win a green jacket.

“Then I played lovely the last few holes and then played nicely yesterday, and you start to build your hopes up again. So who knows?

“Look, I truly hope I get the chance someday. I just really want the chance to do it around Amen Corner someday. I'd love to be in those last few groups out there. It's not great when you're out there playing for 10th or 15th or whatever. It's much nicer when you're in contention.”

He must play this week’s RBC Heritage at Hilton Head without caddie Brian “Bo” Martin, who is travelling home to Ireland to sort out his vaccine requirements.

As a result of the new rules, which requires visitors from listed countries to spend 14 days in a designated hotel, Lowry fears July’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open could be in trouble.

“He can't work next week because of this new quarantine they've brought in in Ireland from the States,” Lowry said of his caddie. “Who knows when I'll be able to go home to Ireland, if I'll be able to go home to Ireland.

“I have no idea what my schedule is going to be leading up to The Open, but it's definitely going to be mostly over here. I don't know if I'll get back to play in Europe at all.

“Ireland brought in a quarantine rule from the US. for some strange reason on Thursday, and we just had to make a decision. [My caddie] is waiting on his second dose of vaccine back home, I think, and he needs to go home and get everything sorted. I don't expect anyone to spend two weeks in a hotel for me in quarantine. I'm not going to do it, so I don't expect anyone else to do it.”

As for the Irish Open, which is scheduled for Mount Juliet from July 1-4, Lowry is worried.

“Well, I think right now, if you look at what the Irish government are out there doing, I think the Irish Open is going to be in trouble because they're out there putting France, Germany, and the US on a quarantine for two weeks,” he said. “So I don't know what's going to happen there.

“You know, it's pretty s**t for me, to be honest, because I know things are tough for everybody at the minute, but my coach and my team are going home tomorrow, and I probably won't see them until The Open.
“It’s not great because I want them over here for the big tournaments, the PGA and the US. Open. We'll see what happens. I don't know. Maybe there will be exemptions or something. I have no idea.”

Masters statistics

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