SHANE LOWRY CERTAINLY looked to be enjoying himself at the Masters on Friday, as the Offaly man roared into contention with a superb four-under-par 68.

But that was far from the case, Lowry revealed afterwards, despite clocking the lowest score of the day at Augusta to sit joint second behind runaway leader Scottie Scheffler.

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“I didn’t enjoy it really much at all,” he told reporters. “It was so hard out there.

“Look, it was one of my better rounds of my career, I think. It was quite tricky out there, quite difficult, and I managed to play some good golf and hole some nice putts at the right times. I’m obviously, very happy with my score. There was a lot more disappointed standing here yesterday, and, yeah, I’m in a great position going into the weekend.

“Overall my game was pretty solid again. When I sat down and talked about my round yesterday, it was four or five shots was the kind of make-or-break of my round yesterday, and I just didn’t pull them off. Today I managed to pull those shots off, and I’m in a great position now going into the weekend.

You’re going to need everything to go your way to be standing there getting green on Sunday. I’m where I want to be. I’m where I need to be. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be hard, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Lowry, who will tee off from the penultimate group for round three at 7.40pm Irish time alongside Sungjae Im, added that he believes the difficult weather conditions that are expected could work in his favour. 

“I play well in tough conditions,” he noted, while crowning “brutal” Augusta the most mentally challenging golf course.

I much prefer the scoring be like this than 20-under. This is where I think I thrive, in these kind of conditions. Yeah, it’s supposed to be windy tomorrow.

“And knowing Augusta, it will probably be easier pins on Sunday. Scoring might get a little better on Sunday, but tomorrow (Saturday) you need to put yourself in a position to give yourself a chance on Sunday, so that’s my goal for tomorrow.”

Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, believes he is “in a decent position” at one-over. 

Speaking before Scheffler’s stunning back nine, which propelled him to five-under overall, the Holywood man predicted:

“Someone might get to four or five-under by the end of the day, but I still feel like I’m right there. You go out tomorrow and you play a decent front nine, and all of a sudden you’re right in the thick of things. I’m in a decent position. I’d like to be a couple of shots better at least, but I’m still right there.”

“I enjoy the challenge,” McIlroy continued. “This is what major championship golf is all about. It’s not easy, and it’s not supposed to be easy. I think the conditions look pretty similar tomorrow as well, so looking forward to that.”

Seamus Power was delighted to make the cut on four-over, while Padraig Harrington just missed out.

“Obviously any week you hope to make the cut, but this week it would be even more special,” Waterford man Power said before all was confirmed.

“It’s just such a fun course to play. There’s so many different shots, like so much imagination required. It’s a blast. I’d love to play two more times.”