SHANE LOWRY AND Rory McIlroy are hoping yesterday’s victory at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans can ignite their 2024 seasons.
Yesterday’s play-off win over Martin Trainer and Chad Ramey at the team event gave McIlroy his 25th PGA Tour victory, and Lowry his third. Both soaked in the celebrations afterwards, with McIlroy belting out Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing on stage.
“It’s amazing”, reflected Lowry in his press conference. “We both felt like we needed to come in here and maybe have a very strong week because we wanted to get our summer going, and we’ve got a lot of big golf coming up soon. Would be nice to get that jump up the FedExCup that we both wanted.
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“It’s nice, it’s great to get a win. It was great fun all week, everything about it was just brilliant. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
Along with bagging prize money of $1.2 million each, Lowry and McIlroy collected FedExCup points to vault up the rankings: Lowry is now 12th in the overall standings, with McIlroy 15th. It’s particularly sweet for Lowry, who missed the end-of-season play-offs last year. The tournament victory also earned both players exemptions to the final three signature events of 2024, lucrative tournaments at which all Tour players are mandated to play. McIlroy was guaranteed his spot at these tournaments, but Lowry’s results last year meant he was relying on sponsors exemptions to qualify.
“That’s great because I wasn’t going to be in Quail Hollow”, said Lowry. “I was hoping to get an invite for Memorial. I was hoping to get an invite there, and Travelers I really didn’t know what was going to happen. I knew I needed to make up some FedExCup points, and this gets me in those, and it means I can plan my schedule now.
“With family stuff and my wife and kids going back to Ireland in the summer, it means I really don’t have to stay over here and grind it out too long. I can do more what I feel like I wanted to do. It’s freed me up a lot this summer. Hopefully we can both kick on now. We’ve got three majors left. Hopefully we can get one each…or maybe two and one.”
McIlroy has struggled for form on Tour this year, having had just one top-15 finish prior to yesterday’s victory.
“To win any PGA Tour event is very cool”, said McIlroy, “but to do it with one of your closest friends. We’ve known each other for a long, long time – probably like over 20 years – so to think about where we met and where we’ve come from, to be on this stage and do this together. [It's a] really, really cool journey that we’ve been a part of, and yeah, just awesome to be able to do it alongside this guy.
“The reason that Shane and I both started to play golf is because we thought it was fun at some stage in our life. I think sort of reinjecting a little bit of that fun back into it in a week like this week, it can always help.
“To play the sort of golf we did coming down the stretch when there was a little bit of pressure, I think that’ll stand to us, also. But yeah, I’ve always felt like I play my best golf when I’m enjoying myself, and hard to not enjoy yourself when you’re out there walking the fairways with Shane.”
McIlroy had never played the event before, and he and Lowry decided to sign up amid the celebrations of last year’s Ryder Cup victory.
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'To think where we've come from' - Playing with Lowry makes victory sweeter for McIlroy
SHANE LOWRY AND Rory McIlroy are hoping yesterday’s victory at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans can ignite their 2024 seasons.
Yesterday’s play-off win over Martin Trainer and Chad Ramey at the team event gave McIlroy his 25th PGA Tour victory, and Lowry his third. Both soaked in the celebrations afterwards, with McIlroy belting out Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing on stage.
“It’s amazing”, reflected Lowry in his press conference. “We both felt like we needed to come in here and maybe have a very strong week because we wanted to get our summer going, and we’ve got a lot of big golf coming up soon. Would be nice to get that jump up the FedExCup that we both wanted.
“It’s nice, it’s great to get a win. It was great fun all week, everything about it was just brilliant. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
Along with bagging prize money of $1.2 million each, Lowry and McIlroy collected FedExCup points to vault up the rankings: Lowry is now 12th in the overall standings, with McIlroy 15th. It’s particularly sweet for Lowry, who missed the end-of-season play-offs last year. The tournament victory also earned both players exemptions to the final three signature events of 2024, lucrative tournaments at which all Tour players are mandated to play. McIlroy was guaranteed his spot at these tournaments, but Lowry’s results last year meant he was relying on sponsors exemptions to qualify.
“That’s great because I wasn’t going to be in Quail Hollow”, said Lowry. “I was hoping to get an invite for Memorial. I was hoping to get an invite there, and Travelers I really didn’t know what was going to happen. I knew I needed to make up some FedExCup points, and this gets me in those, and it means I can plan my schedule now.
“With family stuff and my wife and kids going back to Ireland in the summer, it means I really don’t have to stay over here and grind it out too long. I can do more what I feel like I wanted to do. It’s freed me up a lot this summer. Hopefully we can both kick on now. We’ve got three majors left. Hopefully we can get one each…or maybe two and one.”
McIlroy has struggled for form on Tour this year, having had just one top-15 finish prior to yesterday’s victory.
“To win any PGA Tour event is very cool”, said McIlroy, “but to do it with one of your closest friends. We’ve known each other for a long, long time – probably like over 20 years – so to think about where we met and where we’ve come from, to be on this stage and do this together. [It's a] really, really cool journey that we’ve been a part of, and yeah, just awesome to be able to do it alongside this guy.
“The reason that Shane and I both started to play golf is because we thought it was fun at some stage in our life. I think sort of reinjecting a little bit of that fun back into it in a week like this week, it can always help.
“To play the sort of golf we did coming down the stretch when there was a little bit of pressure, I think that’ll stand to us, also. But yeah, I’ve always felt like I play my best golf when I’m enjoying myself, and hard to not enjoy yourself when you’re out there walking the fairways with Shane.”
McIlroy had never played the event before, and he and Lowry decided to sign up amid the celebrations of last year’s Ryder Cup victory.
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Old friends PGA Tour Rory McIlroy Shane Lowry