PGA Tour star Shane Lowry admitted that he could not face celebrating his close friend Rory McIlroy’s Masters victory last weekend.
McIlroy, 36, claimed his second green jacket on Sunday when he became the first man since Tiger Woods in 2002 to seal back-to-back triumphs at Augusta National.
Lowry, a close friend and European Ryder Cup teammate of McIlroy’s, had also shot himself into contention following the first three rounds at Augusta.
However, the Irishman plummeted from fourth to tied-30 during a brutal final round of the major championship, which saw him shoot a six-over 80.
Following the devastation of the day, he admitted that he could not overcome the disappointment to toast his pal’s victory with him.
‘Obviously, you know the stories from last year. I called over to [McIlroy’s] house with a case of wine and all that,’ Lowry told Golf Channel, via the Irish Independent.
‘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.’
Last year, Lowry lost his cool when he was questioned about McIlroy following the third round of the Masters.
Lowry had been on course to finish at least two under par as he approached the 17th hole, a score which would have left him five shots off the lead. However, he bogeyed the hole before going on to do the same on the 18th.
And following the disappointing end to his round, Lowry took issue with being asked about McIlroy, who held a two-shot lead at the time, in his post-round interview.
‘No,’ Lowry snapped. ‘I’m not going to stand here and talk about Rory for 10 minutes. I’m trying to win the tournament, as well.
‘I know that’s what y’all want me to talk about, but I’ve just had a s*** finish, I’ve got a chance to win the Masters tomorrow, and I’m going to go hit some balls.’
McIlroy and Lowry have formed a tight friendship on the PGA Tour with their respective families also growing close.
The duo joined Tommy Fleetwood for the traditional Masters Par-Three tournament on the Wednesday before the major. Their wives – Erica McIlroy, Wendy Lowry and Clare Fleetwood – were seen chatting and laughing together as they caddied for their husbands and their children excitedly ran across the course.
As well as representing both Europe at the Ryder Cup and Ireland on the Olympic stage together, the duo also traditionally pair up for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
The pair won the PGA Tour’s team event in 2024 on their debut. However, this year Lowry will team up with LIV Golf returnee Brooks Koepka next week after McIlroy dropped the tournament from his 2026 schedule.
However, the 2019 Open champion has not clinched an individual title since 2022 and he admitted it was challenging to get back on the road after the heartbreak of Augusta.
‘I woke up this morning, and I felt like Thursday came around pretty quickly this week,’ Lowry said. ‘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.’
While McIlroy skipped this week’s RBC Heritage after his emotional Masters win, Lowry returned to action at Harbour Town, shooting a one-under 70 in the first round to leave him seven shots behind Ludvig Aberg.
‘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.’
Despite a disappointing final round of this year’s Masters, Lowry did manage to lay claim to a piece of tournament history earlier in the week.
The beloved Irishman delighted the patrons at Augusta as he aced the 190-yard, par-3 sixth hole early in his third round.
In doing so, he became the first golfer in history to get multiple holes-in-one at the Masters.
It was just the 35th time a hole-in-one has been scored at the Masters and now Lowry has two of them.
His previous hole-in-one here came at the 16th in the final round of 2016. It was also his second ace in a month after recording one at March’s Texas Children’s Houston Open.
