With golf fans in this part of the world looking forward to The Masters this week, they are sure to keep a close eye on a couple of players in the field.
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will both enter the tournament in decent form, with hopes high that one of the Irish contingent will be in contention for the green jacket come Sunday night.
McIlroy comes into the event hoping to complete a career Grand Slam, with The Masters the only one of the four majors he is yet to win. Of course, he has not won a major since 2014.
The Holywood native has a decent overall record at Augusta, with seven top ten finishes during his career. He has missed the cut in two of the last editions, but he did come second in 2022.
As for Lowry, he also has a good track record at The Masters. He has finished in the top 25 in each of the last four years, including tied-third in 2022.
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Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry among contenders at The Masters
When it comes to The Masters, there are certain traits that each winner seems to have.
Experience at Augusta is important, with very few players winning the competition during their first appearance. As well as that, ball-striking and approach play is usually the difference over the course of the four days of play.
In fact, strokes gained from tee-to-green seem to be a decisive factor at each tournament. Each of the last 12 winners of The Masters have been in top form in that area heading into the competition.
Looking at the metric of 18 strokes gained tee-to-green in the four weeks prior to The Masters, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are among a group of nine PGA Tour players that fit this category.
12 of the last 12 winners of #TheMasters had gained at least 18 total strokes tee-to-green in the four events before their Masters win.
Only nine players in this year's field are entering the week gaining at least 18 strokes T2G in their last four tournaments. pic.twitter.com/ttMOOSkj7g— Ron Klos (@PGASplits101) April 8, 2024
This would suggest that the Irish pair are among a small field of potential winners of this week's tournament.
The list does expand slightly when LIV players are included, although it can be difficult to judge form of those golfers when the standard of the tour is taken into consideration.
Shane Lowry's strong recent record at The Masters certainly bodes well for him this week. In fact, there just three players in this year's field who are ranked in the top half of the field in every strokes gained category in last five years: Jon Rahm, Will Zalatoris, and Lowry.
If either Lowry or McIlroy can put it all together this week, we could be looking at a first Irish winner of The Masters on Sunday evening.
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