Shane Lowry’s history as a Masters ace puts him in contention for the green jacket

For a long time now, Shane Lowry has had a thing for doing holes-in-one. But his ace on Saturday at the 2026 Masters was very important for two reasons. First, do a Masters history. Second, it defeated Lowry in the race for his first green jacket and second major title.

The stunning, record-setting shot came from Augusta National’s difficult par-3 6th hole in Saturday’s third round, and left Lowry smiling, making quips with reporters and dreaming of Masters glory.

Shane Lowry sets record with second Masters hole-in-one, eyes win

As his Saturday Masters tee time approached, Lowry was tied for 5th place with 36 holes to go. One problem: the leader, Rory McIlroy, was seven guns in front of him.

Still, with so much golf still to be played, and endless scoring opportunities on Augusta’s treacherous greens, Lowry still had an outside shot at slipping onto the green in a few days.

He made an early birdie at the 2nd to move to 6 under. McIlroy, meanwhile, was stuck in neutral to start the day. Soon, the gap between Lowry and McIlroy had been reduced to six.

Then came the 6th.

Lowry stopped the tee with a 7 iron in his hand and stared at the available pin position. He sent his ball straight to the flag.

As the green settled, someone in Augusta could be heard on the radio saying, “It’s okay, baby.”

Lowry’s ball then followed the hole into the cup, and the CBS TV booth said, “Right there, how can you get in!”

Lowry got the celebration started on the tee box, complete with double fist pumps, hugs and raised hands. There was much to celebrate.

With a hole-in-one on 6, Lowry became the first player in Masters history to make two holes-in-one. His first came 10 years ago on the par-3 16th hole during the 2016 Masters. (Lowry also made a hole-in-one a few weeks ago at the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open, using the exact 7-iron he used Saturday.)

The reporter asked him about his achievements after the round.

“Dad just said that to me going up 18. Yeah, yeah, pretty good. All you get are two pieces of crystal. You don’t get much else,” Lowry said with a laugh.

Of course he was kidding. Because Lowry’s Saturday ace earned him something else: a chance to win his first Masters.

With a hole-in-one, Lowry went from six to eight under, putting him just four shots off McIlroy’s lead at the time.

“That’s ridiculous, right? It was done a few weeks ago in Houston. You never expect to bogey one hole. I couldn’t believe it. Obviously, you know, you’re there, and you’re in the hunt for the Masters and you’re making a hole-in-one, it’s great,” Lowry reflected. “Walking down the 6th hole with everybody about 16 and 6 was pretty special. I’ll remember that for a while. Yeah, it was obviously amazing.”

Lowry’s affinity for holes-in-one isn’t limited to his two Masters aces, or his ace at the Texas Children’s Houston Open this year. He’s also hole-in-one on Pebble Beach’s iconic par-3 7th hole (last year) and TPC Sawgrass’ legendary island-green 17th (during the 2022 Players Championship).

Why is he so good at making aces? The 2019 Open champion is as confused as the rest of us, as he revealed on Saturday night with a quip.

“Maybe I’m right,” Lowry said with a laugh. “I don’t know. I don’t know. Like, it kind of… plays to the strengths of my game, and yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know.”

He also acknowledged the extra adrenaline rush his ace on Saturday’s 6th provided, as it put him in contention.

“Yeah, you know, it obviously gives you a big kind of boost,” he said. “You go from six to eight under, and then all of a sudden you’re back to four. It’s getting real now.”

Lowry was proud of his reaction to the big moment, staying within himself to close with a 4-under 68 to leave him just three shots behind joint leaders McIlroy and Cameron Young going into Sunday.

“I felt like I did a really good job of keeping my composure after that. Neil and I talked about it during the week about the only important next shot. I hit a really good shot on the 7th, and I was really happy and proud of it, because it’s easy to get upset in places like that. Your adrenaline goes crazy.”

Sitting behind McIlroy by seven before the 3rd round, Lowry watched the Saturday morning broadcast and noticed that the course looked “better” than a few days ago.

That left him worried that McIlroy might run away with things on Saturday.

“I thought if Rory could shoot a 68 today he might run away with the tournament. The lesson, they made us recover today. I noticed on TV this morning that the greens were softer than yesterday,” said Lowry on Saturday night.

But Lowry also knew playing with the big players at Augusta National was no easy task, and that anything could happen, as he pointed out Saturday after his round.

“But the thing is, it’s not easy to go out and follow it when you’re at the top of the leaderboard. Not that it’s easy to do. But if you’re down on the field and you’re busy with it, it makes it easier and you can play freely. When you’re out hunting you need to be a little bit more secure,” he explained what you’re doing.

The pressure seemed to get to McIlroy on Saturday. He struggled to a one-over 73 as Lowry and other contenders dropped.

But Lowry knew one thing before his round that didn’t change when he finished. The only thing that really matters is Sunday’s final round.

“Yeah, obviously it wasn’t going to be an easy day for Rory to score… but we all know what tomorrow is about. You know what I mean?” Lowry said. “Obviously it’s important, today, but when we get to tomorrow, that’s when, you know, we’ll see what everybody’s made of.”