Rory McIlroy reveals what Shane Lowry said to him after his poor start on day one of the Zurich Classic

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Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry opened their Zurich Classic account with a first round of eight-under par 64 in New Orleans on Thursday.

McIlroy and his best friend Lowry are the defending champions at the Zurich Classic this week.

The Zurich Classic got off to a hilarious start for McIlroy and Lowry, when the 2019 Open champion topped his opening tee shot during Wednesday’s practice round.

Lowry recovered to lead the charge for his team during the opening day four-ball best ball format.

A bogey on their back nine severely halted their progress, after both players found the water with their tee shots on the sixth hole (their 15th).

However, Friday’s foursomes will be when McIlroy and Lowry will really fancy their chances of gaining some ground on the leaders.

Rory McIlroy reveals what Shane Lowry said to him during day one of the Zurich Classic

McIlroy was slow out the blocks on Thursday.

The Northern Irishman drove the ball incredibly well, but he seemed to be very rusty with his irons and he struggled to make putts early on.

Meanwhile, Lowry was in the groove and made all four of his team’s birdies on the front nine.

He clearly gave his best friend a bit of a ribbing about his slow start as well.

McIlroy responded when asked what he made of his performance on day one out in New Orleans:

“Yeah, Shane got off to a really good start. I didn’t do anything. Shane joked I could have got a couple extra hours in bed if I wanted to. But yeah, I played a bit better coming in. Yeah, it was okay. We felt like we left a few shots out there, but we were just saying the two foursomes days on Friday and Sunday here are the important days in this tournament, and it’s important for us to obviously post a good score tomorrow.“

Shane Lowry explains his comments on McIlroy at The Masters

Lowry received some criticism for his hot-headed remarks following round three of The Masters two weeks ago.

He told reporters that he didn’t want to stand there and talk about McIlroy after a poor finish to his own round.

However, before the Zurich Classic began this week, Lowry cleared things up:

“Yeah, honestly it was the weirdest day ever for me because obviously I’m going out there, and I get off to a decent start, birdie the 2nd to get to 6-under, and I’m sort of thinking, Masters Sunday — I’m watching Justin Rose do what he did in front of me. He’s the group in front of me. So yeah, very strange day, and then I just had a bad day. Then you get to watch one of your really close friends do what he does.

“But I was out of it for a long time and I was watching the leaderboard going around, then come in, and I have to deal with my own disappointments first. I actually went to the locker room for like 15 minutes just to gather my own thoughts, watched a bit of the golf, watched what he was doing out there. And yeah, then after that, look, I’m just happy for him. I know what he’s been through the last — certainly the last 10 years since the Grand Slam was on, the pressure that’s been put on him by — not so much by himself but by everyone outside has been pretty tough and he’s had to deal with a lot of disappointment, so it was pretty cool to see him do that.

“I think what everyone saw on the 18th green that day was just pure relief. I was very happy for him. Honestly, it was one of the weirdest days ever for me because you’re out there trying to win the Masters yourself, but then when one of your close friends does it, you have no choice but to be happy for him because it is a great occasion. I think it’s a great occasion for golf, for everybody in golf.

“At the end of the day, it’s history. Sixth person ever to do the Grand Slam is no joke. It’s something that — obviously Jordan has a chance to do it in a couple of weeks. But will it ever be done again? Who knows. It’s a pretty tough thing to do, and Rory has found that out over the last 15 years.

“Yeah, I was just happy for him.“

There is nothing that comes between the two golfers off the course.

Lowry and McIlroy now have to raise their levels on the course on Friday, if they are to have any chance of defending their Zurich Classic title.