Sunday's achievement marked the 25th victory of McIlroy's PGA Tour career and Lowry's second in the United States
By Patrick McDonald
• 1 min read
Rory McIlroy has accomplished another first on the PGA Tour. Teaming up with Shane Lowry at the 2024 Zurich Classic, the two emerged victorious over Martin Trainer & Chad Ramey in a playoff at TPC Louisiana. McIlroy & Lowry made birdie on the final hole of regulation in the foursomes format to reach 25 under -- the number that Trainer & Ramey held as a clubhouse lead -- before making par on the first extra hole to grab the title.
The victory marks the 25th of McIlroy's PGA Tour career, pulling him past Dustin Johnson and Gary Player. He now stands alongside Tommy Armour, Johnny Miller and Macdonald Smith with that many wins. It also represents Lowry's third win on the PGA Tour and his first in the United States since the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
With the victory, Lowry gains access to the remaining big-money PGA Tour signature events this season: Wells Fargo Championship, the Memorial and Travelers Championship. He will also benefit next season as he'll be able to start his season at The Sentry.
"It feels absolutely amazing," McIlroy said. "We've had an awesome week here in New Orleans. ... It feels like it's just a bonus to win at the end, but [it] couldn't be better to have this man alongside me to get a PGA Tour win together."
McIlroy & Lowry started the day just off the pace of 54-hole leaders Patrick Fishburn & Zac Blair. The two struggled early in their final round as the competition transitioned to the foursomes format. Lowry put McIlroy in a couple spots of bother on holes Nos. 1 and 3, leading to early bogeys which sandwiched a birdie on the par-5 2nd.
This was nothing new for the Irish team as they became familiar with sluggish starts this week. The duo caught fire a few holes later around the turn rattling off four birdies in a five-hole stretch to catapult themselves back onto the first page of the leaderboard.
The birdies subsided on the difficult back nine, but one from the blade of McIlroy arrived on the par-4 16th. After hitting his tee shot in the fairway bunker with an iron in hand, McIlroy made amends connecting from just inside 20 feet after Lowry hit a pearl from the sand.
McIlroy's short-game prowess was unable to make up for the mistake off the tee on the 17th leading to an immediate bogey; that meant the two needed birdie on the last to force a playoff with Trainer & Ramey. The birdie came courtesy of a stellar spinner from the wedge of McIlroy, which left Lowry little worry over the putt to tie the clubhouse lead.
On the first playoff hole, McIlroy & Lowry were never out of position as they found the fairway and slid into the greenside bunker in two on the par-5 18th. Meanwhile, Ramey & Trainer struggled after their 3-hour layoff, hitting a number of poor shots. Despite this, Trainer still had a par putt from inside 10 feet to extend the playoff, though it never sniffed the hole and left him dejected.
"It's been an amazing week," McIlroy said. "I had never been here before. Shane has been here a handful of times, and we went out to some really nice dinners and people could not have been more hospitable or nicer to us during the week. I'd say we're going to come back and defend next year." Grade: A+
Rick Gehman, Patrick McDonald, Greg DuCharme and Mark Immelman recap Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry's win in the Big Easy. Follow & listen to The First Cut onApple PodcastsandSpotify.
Here are the grades for the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 2024 Zurich Classic
10. Adam Hadwin & Nick Taylor (-21): The Canadian duo got off to a great start Sunday with birdies on both front-nine par 5s. Getting within two strokes of the lead, Taylor & Hadwin appeared primed to replicate last year's final-round heroics where they fired a 9-under 63. Unfortunately, once they creeped onto the first page of the leaderboard, they began to head in the wrong direction with a bogey on Nos. 9 and 12. Coming off a runner-up finish in 2023, Taylor & Hadwin once again put together a solid showing alongside each other and may make captain Mike Weir consider the partnership in Montreal later this year. Grade: B+
T23. Collin Morikawa&Kurt Kitayama (-18): These two were effective together but didn't possess enough firepower. Their first-round four ball consisted of just six birdies, and they added two more in Friday foursomes to make the cut on the number. They remained bogey-free up until the par-3 17th on Saturday, but by then, the peloton had passed them. Kitayama remains solid from tee to green while Morikawa continues to move in the right direction with his game. Grade: C+
T23. Patrick Cantlay&Xander Schauffele (-18): Given their history in both this event and national team competitions, Schauffele & Cantlay disappointed. They came into the week as the betting favorites and held a share of the lead through 35 holes thanks to a massive effort in Friday foursomes. Only then did the struggles begin as the two made bogey to polish off their second rounds, fell flat during Saturday's four ball format and were too far behind to make any noise Sunday. They are both approaching two years since their last wins. Grade: C-
MC. Sahith Theegala&Will Zalatoris (--): This new team was solid in the opening round with a 7-under 65 but back tracked in foursomes. It's not all that surprising given the fresh nature of the relationship and the time it often takes for players to get comfortable with one another in foursomes. Both players are in fine form so we shouldn't put too much stock into their early exit. They could conceivably be teammates again on Team USA for the 2024 Presidents Cup this upcoming fall. Grade: F
