Shane Lowry has found himself in contention while Rory McIlroy endured a nightmare opening round at the Masters.
In a difficult day for many as conditions at Augusta wreaked havoc, McIlroy found himself on the back-foot early on as he carded a four over par 76 to leave him well off the pace.
In contrast, Lowry enjoyed a fruitful front nine as picked up two birdies to move within a shot of the lead heading for the back.
But the Offaly native suffered a disappointing double bogey on the 10th to move back to level par for the day.
Then the Open Champion saw his pitch at the back of the 15th par five green roll all the way into the pond, leading to a a bogey.
But birdies on the 16th and 18th saw Lowry finish inside the top 10 with a 71.
“I played good and had a couple of bad errors at 10 and 15 that were a bit silly,” Lowry said.
“But I was kind of proud of myself how I hung on. The golf course, oh my God, it was great. I’d never seen it like that and I’ve always wanted to play Augusta like this, firm and fast in the Masters and putts getting away from you…It’s not very enjoyable when you’re doing it but when you look back at it it’s pretty cool.”
All of the talk after the opening round though was dominated by Lowry's playing partner Justin Rose, whose seven-under-par 65 sees the Englishman four clear at the top.
Two over par through seven holes, Rose's eagle on the 8th hole ignited a stunning run that saw him birdie holes 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17.
Meanwhile, McIlroy's poor day could be summed up by inadvertently hitting his father Gerry with a wayward shot as he battled tough conditions.
McIlroy was already two over par when he pushed his approach to the seventh hole to the right of the green, where it bounced and caught his father on the back of the leg.
The former world number one had at least shouted the traditional warning of “Fore” and Gerry was able to see the funny side, joking with reporters: “I should ask for an autographed glove.”
The 31-year-old needs to win the Masters to complete a career grand slam but has struggled for form recently and has started consulting coach Pete Cowen on a formal basis.
McIlroy’s last major title came in the 2014 US PGA Championship and he is without a win of any description since November 2019.
