ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

April 24, 2025

Rory McIlroy

Shane Lowry

TPC Louisiana

Quick Quotes

Q. Did you enjoy the moment being mentioned on the tee as the Masters champion for the first time?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I was glad they remembered THE PLAYERS, as well, in there. It seems like a distant memory at this point. Look, very nice. I could get used to it.

Q. You had a great run there in the middle of the round that kind of kicked you on, didn't you.

RORY McILROY: 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.

Q. There are a lot of really low scores out there. Did you from the start, given the course conditions, no wind, lift, clean and place, was it really clear that kind of thing might happen today?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, you always know in four-balls, especially early Thursday morning, the golf course is probably going to play at its easiest. You've got to get out there and shoot a score. We got off to a nice start and then we got a little bit slow towards the end of the front nine and then we caught fire -- Rory caught fire early on on our back nine and then we lost a bit of momentum towards the end. It was one of those days where you do want to go low, but like Rory mentioned over there, I think the two foursomes days in this tournament are huge. That's what separates the field. Hopefully we can go out tomorrow and shoot a good score and work from there to the weekend.

Q. Is it hard to stay patient under those conditions when you know that today is maybe a day to post a score like that?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, a little bit. I think sometimes every par you make feels like a bogey on these sorts of days, but then again, you have to remember that tomorrow and Sunday are the important days, and if you can shoot good scores on those days, you can move up the board pretty quickly.

Q. Rory, I saw recently you said maybe the only tee shot you get nervous at is No. 1 at Augusta anymore. Did today feel different teeing off? I know you've come off major wins before, but anything feel different?

RORY McILROY: No, not really. It's just playing golf. If anything, a little more relaxed knowing that I have a partner that if I do hit a bad shot that more times than not can bail me out.

SHANE LOWRY: Apart from the 6th.

RORY McILROY: Well, apart from the 6th.

Q. Rory, first round since the Masters win. Nice crowd out there; it seemed like they were really enthusiastic. How would you describe that and how do you react to that?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was brilliant to see so many people out there on a Thursday morning. We had a great time playing in front of them last year. It was a great atmosphere, especially at the weekend. So yeah, it's always nice to play in front of a supportive, enthusiastic crowd, and looking forward to doing more of that over the next few days.