Shane Lowry started his RBC Heritage campaign with a round of 70 to sit seven shots behind leader Ludvig Aberg in South Carolina.
The Offaly man never really managed to find his form at Harbour Town Golf Links as he carded three birdies and two bogeys on his first outing since the final round of the Masters where he went from tied fourth to tied 30th.
"I woke up this morning, and I felt like Thursday came around pretty quickly this week," the 39-year-old, who missed out on $900,000 in prize money, told the Golf Channel.
"It's been a tough few days.
"You know, I felt like I played a lot of good golf last week and got really nothing out of it.
"It's always hard to do that when you prepare so much for a tournament like that and perform as good as I did for a few days. But I try to take as many positives as I can.
"And today, I feel like it was always gonna be a tough enough round to get my kind of mojo back, and I felt like I played nice today."
Lowry's good friend Rory McIlroy went on to defend his Masters title but the Clara native wasn't up for a repeat of last year's celebrations.
"Obviously, you know the stories from last year. I called over to his house with a case of wine and all that," Lowry said.
"I texted him on Sunday night, and I said, 'Honestly, I'm so happy for you, but I don't have it in me tonight to go over and celebrate'.
"I was feeling a bit down and dejected a little bit, so I just stayed at home with my crew, but I'll see him in a couple of weeks in Florida."
The 2019 Open winner picked up shots on holes 5, 8 and 16, while he dropped shots on 7 and 15 at Hilton Head Island.
"I hit the ball in play," he added.
"It was windy out there. It was tricky on the back nine, and it was one of those days where I felt like it was in between clubs all the time, and I struggled to hit it close.
"One under is not too bad, and hopefully I go out tomorrow, and I can shoot a low one."
Aberg of Sweden posted an eight-under-par 63 to lead the field.
At the post-Masters signature event, which features a $20 million purse and no 36-hole cut, Aberg is hunting for his first win since February 2025.
"To me, this week is more about sort of mentally being ready, mentally being charged coming off a couple of tough weeks," Aberg said. "But hopefully I'll be ready to go this weekend, as well."
Aberg made five of his eight birdies on the back nine and stayed bogey-free. He holed a 16-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th to reach eight under.
By day's end, he ranked fourth in the field in both strokes gained on approach and strokes gained putting.
"I felt like the highlight for me was definitely my irons and my approach play," Aberg (below) said.
"I felt like that was really positive. Felt like I was hitting the flights I was trying to do. I was on the correct side of the flags, those kind of things that I really like to see. Then a few putts went in on the back nine that I didn't really do on the front."
Aberg is up a shot on Harris English and Norway's Viktor Hovland, while a six-way tie at six-under 65 includes Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, Andrew Novak, Michael Brennan, England's Matt Fitzpatrick and New Zealand's Ryan Fox.
English and Hovland also turned in bogey-free cards, with Hovland crediting his up-and-downs more so than any particular birdie.
"I hit some really nice chip shots today, especially on 10. It was a nice up-and-down there," Hovland said. "Making a par on 12, I hit it left, which is pretty dead; making an up-and-down there was pretty nice."
Brennan led the field with 16 of 18 greens in regulation and Novak holed more than 81 feet of putts. Novak lost to Justin Thomas in a play-off at this event last year.
Nobody prepared harder than @RickieFowler in South Carolina ... and he opened in 6-under 65 @RBC_Heritage ⬇️
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 17, 2026
From Monday through Wednesday at Harbour Town, Fowler hit the most captured shots (561) of any player, per the PGA TOUR's TOURCAST Range. Fowler also led all players on… pic.twitter.com/cq5NwFHwdE
Fowler, a longtime fan favorite, has won just once on tour this decade and not since July 2023. He's in position for a run after limiting himself to one bogey against seven birdies, including five in his first seven holes.
"I think it was probably more so between the ears," Fowler said. "Really didn't have great stuff the last few days and just put some time in to try and get into a better spot. Had a nice warm-up this morning. Really just tried to slow things down and get into a better rhythm, more consistent contact and flight."
The group at five-under 66 featured Daniel Berger, Robert MacIntyre of Scotland, Sepp Straka of Austria and Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim of South Korea.
World number one Scottie Scheffler shot a three-under 68. Thomas struggled to a five-over 76, tied for 80th out of 82 golfers with England's Tommy Fleetwood.
