Shane Lowry may be playing a game of catch-up on midway leader Brooks Koepka in this 87th edition of the Masters, but the Offalyman was very satisfied with his morning’s work on a day borrowed from an Irish winter as he safely finished his weather-interrupted second round to sign for a 72 for a 36-holes total of four-under-par 140, in tied-10th, and eight shots adrift of Koepka.
“If my putter warms up this weekend, I really feel I can go out and do something!” insisted Lowry.
It’s something of a myth that Lowry loves these cold, rainy days. “I don’t particularly enjoy it, but I go out there and give it my best. I know I can deal with it,” commented Lowry on the conditions which were transformed with cold rain replacing the warmth of much of Friday.
Lowry had hit his tee shot on the 14th hole when play was suspended on Friday and he completed his second round with a solid run of pars, a number of which necessitated his short game scrambling to keep him on track, most especially on the par-five 15th where he flew the green with a lob wedge approach.
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“That’s my least favourite shot out there,” said Lowry of the 88 yards approach to that 15th green. “I was just afraid of spinning it into the water and I hit it a bit too hard and flew the green and had a really tricky chip. I was just trying to give myself a chance for par and that came out perfect,” he added of the par save.
There were further feats of escapology on the 17th from the trees and a lovely chip and putt for par on the 18th to ensure the par run was kept alive.
“I am going to need to play really and well and I am going to need some help from Brooks and Jon [Rahm] but you just never know. That is the great thing about this game, they say it starts on the back nine on Sunday. If I can get myself within a few shots of the lead going into the back nine tomorrow, you never know. Stranger things have happened,” said Lowry, hoping that the putter will warm up to at least get the chance.
Séamus Power, too, made it safely into the weekend with a second round 72 for 145, one over: “It was good to hang in there. It’s obviously not where you want to be but it’s great to be in for the weekend. It’s not a lot of guys on weekend so it’s definitely ground to be made up. I feel pretty good, especially my irons and shot game and stuff so we’ll see what we can do,” said Power.
Koepka had finished his work in Friday’s sunshine before the weather front hit the Augusta area, while others had to don waterproofs and shelter under umbrellas to complete their second rounds on Saturday morning, where Jon Rahm emerged as the American’s closest challenger.
Rahm endured a roller-coaster finish – birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey – to ultimately sign for a 69 for 134 to lie two shots adrift of Koepka.
Tiger Woods finished bogey-bogey but his 73 for 147 enabled him to survive exactly on the cut mark, enabling him to join Fred Couples and Gary Player on the record 23 of consecutively made cut streaks, while among the casualties was Justin Thomas who bogeyed three of his last four holes to miss out by one.
