SHANE LOWRY SAID he was too “down and dejected” to celebrate with Rory McIlroy following the Holywood man’s second consecutive Masters win.

The Offaly golfer was in contention for a first individual win since 2022 last Sunday, but a final round of 80 saw him fall to a finish of tied 30th at Augusta National.

“Obviously, you know the stories from last year. I called over to his house with a case of wine and all that,” Lowry told Golf Channel.

“I texted him on Sunday night, and I said, ‘Honestly, I’m so happy for you, but I don’t have it in me tonight to go over and celebrate’.

“I was feeling a bit down and dejected a little bit, so I just stayed at home with my crew, but I’ll see him in a couple of weeks in Florida.”

Lowry admitted it was difficult to get back to work this week, but is determined to learn from his difficult finish in Augusta.

“I woke up this morning, and I felt like Thursday came around pretty quickly this week.”

“It’s been a tough few days. You know, I felt like I played a lot of good golf last week and got really nothing out of it.

“It’s always hard to do that when you prepare so much for a tournament like that and perform as good as I did for a few days.

“But I try to take as many positives as I can. And today, I feel like it was always gonna be a tough enough round to get my kind of mojo back, and I felt like I played nice today.”

“This game has given me a lot of punches in the gut this year,” Lowry said. “It’s testing me a little bit, but, you know, I’m not going to stop working hard.

“I’m not going to give up, and I’m going to give my best for as long as I may be playing this game.”