Confident Shane Lowry 'not that far away' ahead of Augusta

Accompanied by a new caddie, emboldened by his third place finish last year, Shane Lowry insists he is in confident mood ahead of his latest run at the green jacket this week.

The Masters remains the only major championship not to fall into Irish hands, though 2022 was the strongest ever showing for the Irish contingent around Augusta.

Rory McIlroy fired a memorable final round 64, decorated by a chip-in birdie from the bunker at 18 to nail down second position.

Lowry, who had drifted off the leaderboard after a triple bogey at the 4th on Sunday, registered six birdies over the remainder of his round to climb to five-under par and ultimately finish in a tie for third alongside Cameron Smith.

However, the in-form Scottie Scheffler always had a cushion at the head of field and could even afford a four-putt double bogey at the last to win by three.

Nonetheless, Lowry was disappointed afterwards, feeling that he had played well enough to put himself in contention.

"I feel you're not going to get too many chances to win the Masters," Lowry told RTÉ Greg Allen on Morning Ireland.

"Scottie obviously ran away with it last year. But how many Masters have I left in me? Maybe another eight or ten, hopefully. Well, hopefully I've got 30 or 40 if I manage to get a green jacket. But how many chances have I got to win this?

"You feel like when you give yourself a chance, you want to do your best.

"I was disappointed last year because I did feel I had a chance to win. But just because I had a good week here last year, it doesn't give me a God-given right to play well here this week.

"It's just about going out and preparing myself, being myself and playing the good golf I know I can play."

Lowry's form this year has not hit the heights of 2022,