Hole-in-one: Shane Lowry reflects on ace that puts him firmly in Masters race

The Irishman signed for a four under 68 around Augusta on Saturday, enough to move him nine under for the event and in solo-fourth behind friend McIlroy, Young and third pace Sam Burns.

Lowry was one under for his round when he stepped on the tee at the 190-yard par three sixth. He hit his seven iron flush, watched it fade a little, bounce twice and curl into the cup, cuing his iconic double-fist pump celebration.

Playing partner and Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood was on hand for a hug as the gallery cheered him on.

Lowry loves the big stage. He now boasts aces on the legendary island green on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, the famous picture-perfect seventh at Pebble Beach and now two at the Masters. Saturday's hole-in-one goes with the one he made in the 2016 Masters on the 16th, making him the first golfer to record multiple holes-in-one in his Masters career.

Not to mention that the hole-in-one was Lowry's second in as many events as he drained one at Memorial Park in the Houston Open two weeks ago.

"That's wild, isn't it?" quipped the 2019 Open Championship winner.

"Made one a couple of weeks ago in Houston. You don't ever expect to make a hole-in-one. I just couldn't believe it. Obviously, you know, you're out there, and you're in the hunt at the Masters and you're making a hole-in-one. It's pretty cool. The walk down the sixth hole with everyone around 16 and the 6th was very special. I'll remember that for a while. Yeah, it was obviously amazing."

"It gives you obviously a huge kind of boost. You go from six-under to eight-under, and then all of a sudden you're only four back. It's getting real now. I felt like I did a great job of calming myself down afterwards."

Lowry's best finish at Augusta is a T3 in 2022, but with the luck of the Irish, he could go a couple places better this Sunday.