Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy continue Zurich Classic celebrations after leaving TPC Louisiana

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The celebration may have been delayed by scheduling conflicts, but have no fear. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry celebrated their win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans exactly as you would expect them to.

The good times weren’t limited to McIlroy’s post-win karaoke session, which Lowry said McIlroy was “blindsided” by. The video of the world’s second-ranked player belting “Don’t Stop Believin'” quickly went viral.

“I couldn't believe he was doing it, to be honest,” Lowry said Tuesday from the Wells Fargo Championship. “I was just standing on the side. He kind of got blindsided into doing it, so fair play to him.”

McIlroy and Lowry reconvened a few days later at home in South Florida to continue the good times that started at TPC Louisiana after they won the PGA TOUR’s lone team event in a playoff. They famously decided to team up at a “boozy lunch” after last year’s Ryder Cup and more libations were involved in the aftermath of their win.

“I went home on Sunday night. He had to go somewhere else on Monday morning,” said Lowry, who qualified for this week via the Aon Next 10. “We met up on Wednesday night. We had a pretty good night Wednesday night. We drank some nice stuff and had a good time and we celebrated our win, which you should do. I've been playing (professionally) 16 years and I've only won seven times. You've got to celebrate the good times, too.”

The Zurich Classic was Lowry’s third PGA TOUR win, and first victory anywhere since winning the 2022 BMW PGA Championship. McIlroy won earlier this year at the Dubai Desert Classic but had been coming off a frustrating stretch, as well, including a poor showing at the Masters (T22), the one tournament standing between him and the career Grand Slam.

“I've probably been a little bit hard on myself the few previous weeks, and obviously the few previous weeks didn't go well for him, either,” Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, said Tuesday. “I feel like we played golf with a lot more freedom that week and I feel like it's a lesson for the two of us for the rest of the season, to go and play golf how we played that week in New Orleans. I feel like if we can do that we both can be dangerous in the big tournaments. I just think the whole week of playing golf with a smile on your face, playing golf with a little bit of freedom goes a long way in this game. I think we both learned a lot. That's how I feel anyway.”

Lowry, 37, was frustrated after not capitalizing on two opportunities to win in Florida, at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches (T4) and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (third). He finished well back at the Masters, as well, and near the bottom of the leaderboard at the RBC Heritage in the two weeks preceding the Zurich Classic, as well.

“When you're not shooting the scores you feel like you should be shooting, it becomes difficult,” Lowry said Tuesday. “Yeah, I've just been hard on myself, the days were getting tougher and tougher and yeah, New Orleans sorted that.”

That is something worth celebrating.