Irish pro golfer Shane Lowry sent a lovely message to his pal Rory McIlroy after the Co Down native won the Masters on Sunday, April 13, clinching a career-defining Grand Slam in the process.
"The Masters is one of the greatest weeks in golf," Lowry, who ultimately finished in 42nd place on 4 over par in the prestigious tournament in Augusta, Georgia, said on social media today, Tuesday.
"I was so disappointed with my performance Sunday but I gave it everything and that’s all I can ask for.
"I’ve never been happier to watch someone else achieve something that I want so badly myself. @rorymcilroy you deserve every bit of this and I was so happy to be there to watch you make history."
Lowry was one of the first people to greet McIlroy after he sank his tournament-winning shot during his sudden-death playoff with Justin Rose on Sunday.
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Lowry's message comes after his and McIlroy's emotional post-victory embrace went viral:
A celebration shared with friends. #themasters pic.twitter.com/brbHaDYkb5
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 13, 2025
Lowry and McIlroy have a longstanding relationship that dates back to the 2000s when the junior golfers were coming up in the Irish golf scene.
Prophetically, Lowry once said - albeit about 12 years too early - "Gonna put this out there. Rory will win the masters. #hearditherefirst."
Gonna put this out there. Rory will win the masters. #hearditherefirst
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) March 1, 2013
The golfing duo opened up about their relationship in the February 2023 Netflix documentary "Full Swing," which prominently featured McIlroy.
When asked if he feels "protective" of McIlroy, Lowry admitted: “Nobody’s ever asked me that.
“But now that you say it, I probably would do, yeah.
“He gets a lot of unnecessary criticism from the general public, the golf media, the other players.
“Stuff like that can weigh heavily on people. I just feel like he gets a lot of s***.”
Lowry added: “When you’re Rory McIlroy and you’re the greatest player of our generation, people are not themselves around you.
“So you meet people, you go hang out with them, and they’re not themselves.
“But when I hang out with him, I’m just myself. I think I’m probably a breath of fresh air to his life at times where he can just get away, be himself and be normal.
“I feel like I’m good for him – but he’s also really good for me as well.”
McIlroy had similar sentiments for Lowry: “The Tour can feel like a lonely place at times, so to have a friend like Shane who is always up for a laugh and doing fun things, this year more than any other year, it’s really shown its importance to me.”
McIlroy added: “We live very close to each other [in Florida] and I’d say the weeks that we’re home we probably see each other five times a week.
“It’s nice to have someone like that, who you can pick the phone up to about anything, whether it’s golf or stuff away from golf.
“Sometimes I’ve struggled with the balance of being the best golfer, the best husband, the best dad.
“Sometimes I get overwhelmed and it can get a bit much for me.
“I see how Shane does it with a lot of ease. Sometimes you have to focus on one or the other.
“He’s really good at that and I see him as a good role model for me.
“I can learn a lot from him and how he handles everything in his life.”
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in April 2024. (Getty Images)
The two have even teamed up on the green on a number of occasions and in 2024, together won the Zurich Classic in New Orleans.
McIlroy said afterward: "To win any PGA Tour event is very cool, 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.
"To think about where we met and where we've come from, to be on this stage and do this together - really, really cool journey that we've been a part of."
He added: "The reason that Shane and I both started to play golf is because we thought it was fun at some stage in our life.
"Reinjecting a little bit of that fun back into it in a week like this week, it can always help."
Later in 2024, the two both represented Ireland at the Olympics in Paris.
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