Shane Lowry is in a confident mood heading into the Masters and is ready to make a big impact at Augusta.
Lowry missed the Masters cut by a single stroke last year, but since then he's gone from strength to strength, winning a World Golf Championship event and he sits comfortably inside the world top 40 rankings.
The Offaly man has been preparing in Augusta since Saturday and he told RTÉ Sport that he’s in the perfect frame of mind going into the first major of the year.
"You definitely do need to know the course," Lowry told Greg Allen after continuing his preparations today.
"Last year I didn’t play that many practice rounds and I didn’t know it too well enough and it wasn’t great for me in the end.
"I got to play 18 holes on Saturday, nine holes yesterday and nine holes today so I’ve done 36 holes already this week.
"I feel like I do know the place well enough and that I’m playing well enough to do okay."
Having missed the cut at the Houston Open last week, Lowry, who will play alongside 2009 winner Angel Cabrera and JB Holmes in the opening two rounds, has enjoyed two days extra preparation for the Masters, something which he believes will stand him in good stead.
Indeed having benefited from the extra time, the Clara man admits that he may change his schedule ahead of big events in the future.
"Maybe down the line I’ll think about not playing the week before," he said. "It depends how this week goes, but definitely the Saturday and Sunday feels like I’ve done some good work.
"I’ve got the whole excitement factor out of the way and I’m looking forward to getting down to business now."
For Lowry, the days when it was considered an achievement just to qualify for the Masters are gone now and the World number 32 is no longer happy just to be there.
"I feel like my game is good enough," he insisted. "I feel like at the minute I’m driving the ball well, with my new driver in the bag it’s working great.
"If I can just be myself this week and use my imagination I think I can do okay.
"I do think it is a golf course I can do well around this week. I know that if I put myself there on Sunday I’ve got what it takes to do it, so that’s just what I need to do."
