SHANE LOWRY said it was “pretty cool” to see his “best friend” Rory McIlroy “in full flow” during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
McIlroy outlasted his Irish counterpart for his first PGA Tour win of 2025 last weekend in California.
Both men pocketed a cool seven-figure sum EACH for their efforts, but that did not dampen Lowry’s disappointment.
Taking to Instagram, he said: “Reflecting on my week at Pebble Beach.
“I’m disappointed to fall short of what my ultimate goal was on Sunday but all in all proud of how I fought, especially when the going got tough yesterday.”
The 2019 Open Champion made the point of praising McIlroy, adding: “To watch one of my good friends in full flight doing his thing was also pretty cool.
“Finally thanks to everyone at AT&T and Pebble Beach for a great week”.
Lowry can rest easy with the consolation that his performance and second placed finish saw him jump up the world rankings.
Lowry, whose best-ever world ranking came after he won the 2019 Open Championship, surged to number 16 that year.
Going into last week’s event in California at the iconic Pebble Beach, he was ranked number 28, but now he’s jumped ten places to 18 in the official world rankings.
He’s also leapt up to ninth on the FedEx Cup ladder after missing the cut two weeks ago at the Farmers Insurance Open.
He also gained vital Ryder Cup points as he shot up to fourth on the European qualifying table.
McIlroy leads the way ahead of Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Højgaard, and Shane Lowry.
The iconic team event gets underway in September at Bethpage Black GC in New York.
Rory McIlroy remains in third place in the world rankings but is hot on the heels of Xander Schauffele after his first PGA Tour win of the season.
Scottie Scheffler remains way out in front at the top of the rankings.
And, like McIlroy, the event was the American’s first PGA Tour start of the 2025 season.
The two-time major winner returned after a cooking accident that left him requiring surgery.
Scheffler finished T9 at the event, six shots behind McIlroy’s winning score.
The PGA Tour heads to Phoenix this week for the WM Open.
