Q. How much harder is it getting, and I know you're happy with where you are, but did it feel any different in terms of ease or difficulty from yesterday?
SHANE LOWRY: It's getting a little bit harder. I hit some nice shots today that finished over the greens. The greens are definitely firming up. They're fast around the holes. Getting crusty. And we were off early. Yeah, it's obviously a little bit harder today, but there's still a score out there if you play the perfect golf. But, yeah, it takes perfect golf out there to shoot a good score.
Q. Been a lot of 80s so far today.
SHANE LOWRY: Today, has there? Okay. Yeah, no.
Q. You're not one of them.
SHANE LOWRY: I'm obviously playing well and, yeah, I played well these last two days. Like, I feel like I probably should have shot better than 1-under today. I'll take it. If you had asked me at the start of the day, I probably would have taken it. This course, like you said, you see with those scores, it can get away from you quite quickly. I said it here yesterday, it's the type of course where you get on a run, you feel like you can birdie every hole, but then it starts getting away from you, you feel like you're never gonna make a par out here, so, yeah, it's that type of course.
Q. What sort of a test is this stretch mentally, when you look at this stretch of golf?
SHANE LOWRY: Ludvig and I were just talking about it. I think the Florida swing is probably the toughest test of golf we play all year. Obviously, last week was not as tough as it has been in the past. This week is always really tough. Next week is THE PLAYERS championship, the scoring can be quite good, but it's still a tough test of golf, it's a proper test of golf. Obviously, you go to Tampa, and it doesn't get any easier there. So, yeah, it's probably, I think, the toughest stretch of golf we play all year.
Q. Do you do anything to get yourself mentally prepared for that?
SHANE LOWRY: No, you just try and be prepared going into the weeks, and try not to do too much early on in the weeks. Because they build up, they come quick and they're quite tiring, days like that are tiring, both physically and mentally out there.
Q. How critical was it making that birdie on 18 for your momentum?
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I think it was important that I definitely made par anyway. It was important that I hit a good tee shot down there, because you hit a bad tee shot down 18, you know you're behind the black ball, especially where that pin was today. I think, yeah, I was very happy making that birdie. It's nice. I'm not sure the guys on 4-over are going to thank me, but, yeah, so -- but there's still guys out there that can get past us today, so we'll see.
Q. Also, just the firmness of the greens, you mentioned it already, but is it frustrating? You looked frustrated on 17.
SHANE LOWRY: I was frustrated on 17 because I hit a perfect shot. I felt like I hit a perfect shot on 14. Both times I finished over the green. So that gets quite frustrating when you do that.
Especially on 17, if it's like six inches shorter or even if it's like a foot further, my chip shot would have been easier. It's just where it finished up against the collar was quite difficult. Yeah, I had a couple of those today, but that's what this golf course does. I think it's going to do more of it over the weekend. You just need to be mentally switched on to go down and give yourself the best chance to get up-and-down, and then hole the putts when you need to.
Q. Where did you pitch on 14?
SHANE LOWRY: I pitched too far up. I pitched about five or six yards short of the pin. I went back into the bunker. I didn't think I could pitch my 6-iron that far. I pitched probably five yards further than I thought it was going to.
Q. Still, five yards short of the pin and you're in the back bunker.
SHANE LOWRY: It wasn't even, didn't even contemplate holding the green, it was over the very minute it landed. So, yeah, it's -- you know, because up there it's quite flat, you land it short, it pitches on the upslope, so it's tricky.
Q. Try to take a little off it?
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah.
Q. What did you hit at 17?
SHANE LOWRY: 8-iron. Tee is forward today.
Q. What was 14?
SHANE LOWRY: 6-iron on 14.
Q. So, you said yesterday, nice to be in the mix, given your track record here?
SHANE LOWRY: Oh, yeah. Look, yeah, I'm pretty happy to be where I am right now. Obviously, look, there's no trophies given out today, so I'll just dig in over the weekend and see where it leads me come Sunday.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports