SHANE LOWRY FINISHED with a birdie on the 18th to move into a tie for 20th position at the Masters at Augusta.

The Open winner got off to a disastrous start with a double bogey on the first and if that was bad, it didn’t get better for some considerable time.

A bogey on the par 5 second was half-forgotten about when he birdied the third. The greens were softer today than yesterday which made scoring easier in general but Lowry didn’t find form until the 12th.

By this stage he was four over for his round after bogeys on seven and 11.

Then his form came. There were birdies on 12, 13 and a brilliant one on the last to ensure he finished with a 73, making him even par for the opening two rounds, which left him in a tie for 20th.

Overnight leader Justin Rose shot an even par round of 72 after a stuttering start to set the early halfway target in the 85th Masters as a high-class chasing pack took shape at Augusta National.

Rose held a four-shot lead following a brilliant 65 on a tough opening day when just two other players broke 70, but saw that wiped out after covering his first 12 holes in three over.

Three birdies in the next four holes took Rose back out in front and a second round of 72 kept the 2013 US Open champion in pole position in pursuit of a second major title.

“The finger was moving towards the panic button for sure but after a tough start, I weathered the tough period of the round and after the seventh fairway, even though things were going wrong, I just stayed calm,” said Rose.

“I am really pleased to have turned it around; I got aggressive off the 13th tee and felt that was a good turning point for me.

“Very rarely do you put a good round of golf back-to-back. To win a Masters, you don’t just skip around a golf course for 72 holes.

“I have a great game-plan to play this tournament. Some guys made a great move today.

“To shoot 72, it was not a bad score, but we move on to the next round now.”

Originally published at 20.01