MARANA, Ariz. — Shane Lowry said it would be one of the great days of his career if he were to beat Rory McIlroy in the Match Play Championship.

He just didn’t want that to be the end of his week.

Lowry became a footnote in the 15-year history of this most fickle golf tournament on Friday when he became the first No. 64 seed to make it into the third round. It’s difficult enough to knock off the No. 1 player in the world. The difficult part is to come back to earth and keep playing golf, and the Irishman did that with a game that was as brilliant as the sunshine on Dove Mountain.

He made five birdies in 13 holes, the last one carrying him to a 6-and-5 win over Carl Pettersson.

“I went out for dinner with the lads, my caddie and a few other guys, and I found it quite hard to sleep last night,” Lowry said. “I was on such a high. There was people, lots of phone calls and texts and stuff. But I managed to get to sleep and get a few hours.”

Two days after dispatching one Irish friend, Lowry gets another Saturday morning.

Next up is Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, who is in the same management stable as Lowry. McDowell, Lowry and McIlroy had dinner together Tuesday night at a rustic outpost called Lil Abners Steakhouse, and they planned to go back Thursday night — minus McIlroy, who is back in Florida.