'Boozy lunch' pairing Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry win Zurich Classic

On the back of a brilliant closing nine-under-par 63 at TPC Louisiana, American Chad Ramey and Frenchman Martin Trainer had set a stiff clubhouse target with a 25-under-par total.

McIlroy and Lowry had got off to a slow start in the last-day foursomes session before bursting into life with four birdies on the spin around the turn then forcing a play-off with a birdie-4 to finish.

It was won by McIlroy and Lowry with par at the 18th, giving McIlroy his 25th PGA Tour title triumph and Lowry a third win on the US circuit but first since the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush.

“Absolutely amazing,” said McIlroy of the victory. “It's been an awesome week, and it couldn't be better to have this man alongside me to get a PGA Tour win together. To win any PGA Tour event is very cool, but to do it with one of your closest friends, we've known each other for a long, long time, probably like over 20 years.”

The duo represented Ireland in the 2007 at Western Gailes before going to become Ryder Cup team-mates in both 2021 and 2023. They also played for Ireland in the 2021 Olympics in Japan.

“To think about where we met and where we've come from, to be on this stage and do this together, really, really cool journey that we've been a part of, and yeah, just awesome to be able to do it alongside this guy,” added McIlroy.

On the back of the win, Lowry is up to 12th, three spots above McIlroy, in this season’s FedEx Cup standings. Both players are also now in the three remaining Signature Events on this season’s circuit.

“Yeah, it's great,” said Lowry of the triumph. “We felt like coming into the week that we both could do with a big jump in the FedExCup, and we both said at the start of the week, let's go and get 400 points each. That's what we've done, and I nearly feel a little bit bad taking them because Rory carried me a lot of the way. But, yeah, they're mine, and they're not going away.”

The win was saluted on social media by Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. In a post on X, he wrote: “Well, I joined that boozy lunch in the early evening back in October that led to Rory and Shane partnering up this week. Always brings a smile to see any of my players win - winning together is even better. Well done lads.”

It was also a good week for Bob MacIntyre and Belgian Thomas Detry as they finished in joint-eighth, signing off with a 69 for a 22-under total, with Russell Knox and Peter Malnati three shots further back after a last-day 71.