Shane Lowry knows he must cut out the “stupid” errors after he was left to regret several unforced errors over the first three days of the Masters.

The Offaly man (34) followed a 71 with a brace of level par 72s to go into the final round tied for 21st, 11 strokes behind Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama whose seven-under 65 gave him a four-stroke lead over Xander Schauffele (68), Marc Leishman (70), Justin Rose (72) and Will Zalatoris (71) on 11-under par.

“I'm disappointed,” Lowry said. “I feel like level par for these last three days is probably the worst score you could be on, but then I've got to take the positives from that, as well.  If I can go out and shoot a decent number tomorrow, I could have a very decent week for myself, and just move on.”

Asked what pleased him most about his performance at Augusta and what he felt he needed to improve, Lowry said: “Like every golfer, I'll answer the bad one first.  I feel like I've made an awful lot of stupid errors, hit wrong clubs -- not wrong clubs, just wrong decisions, just bad decisions a few times this week that have really cost me.  My start yesterday, like I played lovely the first day, shot 1-under, very happy with that, and then I go out and I start double bogey-bogey yesterday, and that's just stupid.  It really is.  

“Standing there in the middle of the first fairway with a wedge in my hand and the whole of Augusta to the right and I miss it left, which is the only place you can't miss it, which it's kind of inexcusable.  Then I bogey the second, and same, middle of the fairway with a wedge on No. 7 yesterday, as well.  

“Just got my round back on track, made a couple of nice pars on 4 and 5 and then played 6 well and then hit a great shot down on 7, and you're only trying to hit it into that bowl left of that flag, and left it short and made bogey again, and that kind of frustrates me. 

“It's hard to be out there playing around Amen Corner, playing all those difficult holes, the wind swirling when you're on the cut mark or feel like you're close to the cut mark.  I felt like, if I got off to a better start yesterday, I might have been able to kick on a little bit better and make some more birdies coming in, but when you're coming in and you're kind of just worried about -- not worried about the cut, but you don't really want to do nothing stupid, you're kind of playing a little bit safer than you might. 

“Yeah, I've made a lot of bad errors, but my game — a lot as in four or five — but my game has been very good.  I've driven the ball okay, and I'm pleased with how I'm putting the ball at the minute.  I'm seeing my lines, and I'm pretty happy with that.  I'm pretty happy where my game is at, like I really am.  

“So as I told someone last week, I did an interview last week, and I said, I'm very happy where my game is at, and I feel like if I just stay patient over the next few months, that something special might happen.”

The Open champion went into yesterday’s third round knowing a score in the sixties would catapult him into the mix. But while he got off to an excellent start and then played the tough, first six holes in one-under-par.

After making a seven-footer for birdie at the second, he bogeyed the third after his pitch failed to crest the bank short of the green, then made a good six-footer for par at the fourth.

He had to hole another eight-footer for par at the fifth, then knocked in an 11 footer for a birdie two at the sixth before he was knocked back by a bogey at the 11t, where he was in the trees on the right and had to lay up.

While he birdied the 13th, a 77-minute weather delay did him no favours. Having overshot the 15th before the hooter sounded, he could only make par there on his return and then three-putted the 16th to card a 72 that left him tied for 21st with the likes of Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm on level par.

Unlike Matsuyama, who adjusted brilliantly to the slower and slightly softer greens after the restart, Lowry found the pace of the greens — a foot slower than they were before the rain — difficult to judge.

“Yeah, look, I came back out, and I left every putt short,” he said.  “A chance on 15, obviously three-putted 16, a chance on 17 and 18 and left them all short, and they were pretty good putts, but just pace wasn't great.  

“So yeah, disappointing.  It did affect it, and it's going to make the course a lot easier for the guys playing the back nine now.  When we turned going down 10, 11, 12, it was quite difficult just before the storm came in, so I think -- that's what disappoints me, as well, because obviously I think the leaders will make some birdies around 13 and 15 and make it a little bit easier.”

He’s just one-under for the par-fives this week but he admitted that they don’t suit his eye, especially the second and 13th, where you must move the ball right to left off the tee or risk a major mistake by flirting with the left-hand side.

“Every time I play here, I say the same thing,” Lowry said.  “You know, a couple of tee shots I just don't really like.  I don't like the tee shot on No. 2, and the tee shot on 13 I've struggled with in the past.  

“Even 8, I seem to put myself in a good position every day there this week, and not birdie it once.  And the second, I just struggle with it.  You know, people automatically look at Augusta, and they think it's straight-forward off the tee, but that second hole is a smelly tee shot.  You pitch it down the left side of the fairway and you can find yourself down in -- there's a hazard down there on the left pretty easy.  But yeah, that's the way it is.  

“Look, some people come here, and they'll play those tee shots well and maybe they'll have a chance to do something special.”

Statistics

- Leader Board | Third Round

- Birdies | Third Round

- Birdies | Cumulative

- Course Stats | Third Round

- Course Stats | Cumulative

- Driving Accuracy | Third Round

- Driving Accuracy | Cumulative

- Driving Distance | Third Round

- Driving Distance | Cumulative

- Eagles | Third Round

- Greens in Regulation | Third Round

- Greens in Regulation | Cumulative

- Hole-by-Hole Par | Third Round

- Hole-by-Hole Score | Third Round

- Putts | Third Round

- Putts | Cumulative

- Sand Saves | Third Round

- Sand Saves | Cumulative