Shane Lowry has two late Masters birdies to climb into contention

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Shane Lowry is sitting in a solid position heading into the weekend of the 2026 Masters Tournament.

The 39-year-old shot a bogey-free 69 Friday and sits comfortably six shots behind fellow Northern Ireland native Rory McIlroy.

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“Look, I'm in a nice position. I played well today,” Lowry said. “I felt like I did a lot of good things, and my attitude was great. So I'm very, very happy. If you give me this position yesterday morning, I would have taken your hand off. To be kind of in the mix going into the weekend around here is nice, so I'm looking forward to it.”

Shane Lowry reacts after a putt on the 18th green during the second round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

This is Lowry’s eighth made cut in 11 Masters starts, his best finish coming in 2022 at T3. He finished his round Friday with birdies on the par-3 No. 16 and No. 18.

“I obviously had to stay patient, and I holed a couple of nice par putts kind of on 11 and 14,” he said. “Then, yeah, just kept trying to give myself chances and hit some great shots on the way in. I'm very happy.”

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Masters leaderboard: Shane Lowry birdies 16, 18, climbs into top 5