Q. A really solid 67 to begin your quest to win the belly putter for a second time. You must be delighted with that?
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I'm pretty happy. To be honest I feel like Thursday come around quick this week. At alarm went off at 5.00 this morning, it was a bit early. But yeah, I got out there and I played some great golf again, and it's nice to come to a place that you know pretty well and I've done well in the past. I feel pretty comfortable around here, so I'm happy with that.
Q. You made the turn at 1-under par, but you got going nicely on the 11th and 12th, birdie putt on 11 and nice eagle on 12?
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, felt like I hit some good shots on the front nine; you don't get rewarded. You kind of have to stay very patient around here you and always know you're going to have a few chances coming in. I did that today and I got rewarded on the back nine.
Yeah, hopefully I can keep this good golf up for the next few days, and give myself another run at this.
Q. You've had some memorable battles with Rory through the years, most notably in 2014, and you had him back in 2022. Would it be nice if there was something similar this weekend?
SHANE LOWRY: Might be better if someone apart from Rory, but yeah, Rory is obviously playing great golf. Look, it's not a surprise to see him at the top of the leaderboard today. I think if you're going to win the tournament this week, if you finish ahead of him, you've got a great chance.
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