Rory McIlroy might be feeling on top of the world right now but one of the most important things in his life is his friendship with fellow PGA Tour star, Shane Lowry.
Lowry had a shocking final round himself at Augusta National but was on hand to welcome McIlroy off the green immediately as he embraced his good pal.
Lowry had complained about media duties over the weekend but when it comes to dealing with the media and fans, few golfers give as much time as Rory McIlroy does.
Now, with a green jacket finally in the bag and seemingly in the form of his life, the sky seems to be the limit for the Northern Irishman for the rest of 2025.
However, while more success will undoubtedly come for McIlroy, Lowry has revealed he’s actually told McIlroy’s wife that he could step away a happy man now.
Shane Lowry reveals his conversation with Rory McIlroy’s wife at The Masters
With Lowry being right there to welcome McIlroy and clearly being delighted for his good friend, he was always going to be open to doing an interview to discuss the success.
And Lowry, speaking off course as McIlroy celebrated, revealed he’d told Erica [McIlroy’s wife] that Rory could now retire right now and be happy.
“This means everything to him. It’s all he thinks about. All he talks about,” Lowry quipped. “He always said to me he would retire a happy man if he won a green jacket.
“I told Erica he can retire now. He has had a long 10 or 11 years. He has had a lot of hurdles and moments to get back up from and it’s a credit to him.
“It’s a sign or something to the rest of us to cling on to that no matter what happens, however bad you feel, you need to keep working hard and your day will come.”
What Rory McIlroy has said about retiring from golf
For Rory McIlroy, golf now is all about winning. He’s made all the money he could ever dream of and now with the Green Jacket secured, he’s achieved pretty much everything.
As Lowry says, he could retire now and be a happy man, safe in the knowledge he’s done it all.
Of course, McIlroy will want to win more and get into double figures for majors if he can. But when it comes to playing golf as an elder statesman, McIlroy wants nothing to do with it.
Absolutely not. I will not play Champions Tour golf,” McIlroy said when quizzed on his future last month.
“Look, I’ve said a lot of absolutes in my time that I’ve walked back, but I do not envision playing Champions Tour golf. Something has went terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50.”
McIlroy has a young family now and plenty to deal with off the course, with the TGL also a focus of his.
But while he won’t be playing golf beyond 50, he’s still got 15 years to add more majors and put himself right up there among the true greats of the game.
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