The Clara man will be hoping to make some moves up the leaderbored later today.
Shane Lowry has had an up and down start to his Masters campaign.
The Offaly man carded a one under par, round of 71.
Lowry mixed four birdies with three bogeys to finish his first day in a tie for 11th.
Two double-bogeys in Rory McIlroy's last four holes undid a lot of the good work he had done yesterday.
The World Number two was 4-under-par through his opening 14 before disaster struck on 15 and on 17.
McIlroy is now level par, 7 shots off the lead held by England's Justin Rose who is 3 shots clear of the field
McIlroy will resume his second round just before 3, whilst Lowry is back out at 3-15.
Coverage with thanks to Keenan Bauer Motors Mullingar - Your home for Citroen and Honda in the Midlands - Keenanbauer.com
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