As Rory McIlroy made his way through a tunnel of fans toward the Augusta National clubhouse, a man who’d just posted an 81 stood waiting at the other end. A beaming Shane Lowry wrapped up his friend in a burly hug and picked him up, 2 feet off the ground.
For Lowry it was, by his own account, a horrific day inside the ropes. But the Irishman cast it aside to celebrate 35-year-old McIlroy’s grand achievement.
“I think, for him, it’s been everything,” said Lowry of McIlroy’s quest to win the Masters Tournament and with it, become the sixth player to achieve the career Grand Slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
“You know, he might not have wanted to say that, but it’s genuinely been everything for him over the last 10 years.”
The playoff victory over Justin Rose on Sunday, he said, cemented McIlroy’s legendary status. Of course, as Lowry noted several times, he didn’t make it easy.
Up by as many as five midway through the round, McIlroy’s coronation stopped cold on the par-5 13th hole with a stunning double bogey that dropped him into a tie with Justin Rose at 11 under.
“I was feeling for him,” said Lowry. “It’s so hard out there. I know how much this means to him and I know how hard this would’ve been if he didn’t win today, when I saw the position he got himself in.”
After McIlroy made birdie on the first extra hole to clinch the title, he dropped to the ground, overcome with relief. The burden he’d carried since August 2014, when he won his last major title at the PGA Championship, had finally lifted.
“It’s all he thinks about,” said Lowry, “it’s all he talks about. Always said to me he’s retire a happy man if he won the green jacket. I told (Rory's wife) Erica he can retire now.”
That’s not happening, of course.
At the green jacket presentation ceremony, an emotional McIlroy closed by saying “it’s an honor of a lifetime to be standing here. I’ve dreamt about this moment for so long and I can’t wait to be here again next year in Scottie’s position, hopefully putting the green jacket back on myself.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Shane Lowry says winning the Masters meant everything to Rory McIlory
