Rory McIlroy secured his second consecutive Inexperienced Jacket at Augusta Nationwide however finest pal Shane Lowry could not fulfil his want.
Shane Lowry could not stay as much as Rory McIlroy’s Masters want (Picture: Andrew Redington, Getty Photographs) This text incorporates affiliate hyperlinks, we are going to obtain a fee on any gross sales we generate from it. Be taught extra
Two-time Masters champion Rory McIlroy was denied the prospect of watching shut pal Shane Lowry battle alongside him for the Inexperienced Jacket. Certainly, Lowry’s final-round implosion was so devastating that he couldn’t even face chatting with the press on Sunday.
Lowry, 39, had been very a lot in competition for his second main title heading into the ultimate spherical, his problem boosted considerably by a surprising hole-in-one on Saturday. He sat fourth on the leaderboard after three rounds, simply two strokes behind the tempo being set by McIlroy and Cam Younger on 11-under. But a dreadful 80 over the ultimate 18 holes noticed Lowry tumble down the standings in dramatic vogue. Slightly than going toe-to-toe with shut pal McIlroy for prime honours, he surrendered almost £700,000 in prize cash as he crashed from fourth (which carries an £804,000 reward) to sharing thirtieth (simply £114,000).
The Mullingar-born star was in no way of thinking to deal with Sunday’s eight-over-par show as he shunned all post-tournament interviews. And he might not have been the one competitor on the course left bruised by witnessing his downfall.
McIlroy, 36, had loads to occupy his personal ideas as he sought to turn out to be solely the fourth man to assert back-to-back Masters titles. However, it says the whole lot about his bond with Lowry that he was nonetheless casting a involved eye in direction of his pal all through.
What’s extra, McIlroy admitted Lowry is the one individual he would have beloved to put a Inexperienced Jacket upon. Assuming, in fact, he failed to assert victory himself.
Talking following Sunday’s triumph, he mentioned: “I used to be on the market right this moment Shane’s rating as a result of I used to be to see, if I did not win right this moment, I want I might have been placing the Inexperienced Jacket on him.
“So like I am on the lookout for different folks as properly to see how they’re doing, however more often than not I do know that does not serve me. So these targets are extra to only maintain me from it an excessive amount of.”
McIlroy named Lowry because the individual he’d wish to win the Masters if he could not defend his crown (Picture: Ben Jared/PGA TOUR by way of Getty Photographs)
Totally different golfers make use of various methods on the subject of monitoring the leaderboard. Whereas some favor to close it out fully and focus solely on their very own recreation, others like to stay absolutely knowledgeable of how their rivals are performing.
Given McIlroy was unable to current the jacket to himself, Augusta Nationwide president Fred Ridley stepped in to do the honours. In doing so, McIlroy joined Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as solely the fourth participant in historical past to win the event in back-to-back years.
Lowry, in the meantime, had a far much less welcome entry added to his document. This marked the second consecutive 12 months he has carded an 80 or worse throughout a spherical at Augusta, hardly the form of sample any golfer needs to ascertain.
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Although he was unavailable for interview, Lowry made sure he was current to witness McIlroy’s momentous achievement. He warmly embraced his shut pal shortly afterwards and appeared to have put aside his personal disappointment to rejoice a really historic event.
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