Ryder Cup teammates and fellow Irish Olympians Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are set to join forces as a partnership at the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April.
This marks McIlroy’s debut appearance in the unique paired tournament, while Lowry has appeared at the event on three occasions, most recently when partnering Ian Poulter to a 13th place finish in 2022.
McIlroy had pledged to play more competitive golf as he seeks to find his best form in the middle of major season, and, providing he tees it up in the PGA Tour’s Signature Event at Harbour Town Links the week after the Masters, it will be four weeks on the trot beginning with the Valero Texas Open, then the Masters, followed by the RBC Heritage and culminating in New Orleans.
Despite being amateur teammates back in Ireland, both players had drifted apart but following Lowry’s move to Florida and becoming a neighbour of McIlroy’s, they’ve become close friends and this partnership is further evidence and a very welcome announcement for all Irish golf fans.
The tournament sees PGA Tour pros partner up and play alternating rounds in foursomes and fourball formats at TPC Louisiana, and the news that two of his star names are set to join forces will be most welcome to Luke Donald as he begins to plot his team’s assault at victory in an away Ryder Cup – something McIlroy described as being among the highest achievements in the sport – at Bethpage Black in New York in 2025.
This will be the seventh staging of the event in the paired format, and recent winners have included Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer, and most recently, Nick Hardy and Davis Riley.
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