Rory McIlroy 'can't wait' for Zurich Classic finale with Shane Lowry as victory in sight
Rory McIlroy is eyeing up his first PGA Tour victory of the season at the Zurich Classic, having impressed alongside his teammate Shane Lowry at TPC Louisiana
Rory McIlroy is eagerly looking forward to Sunday's final round of the Zurich Classic alongside his partner Shane Lowry, with the world No. 2 chasing down his first PGA Tour win of 2024.
McIlroy is competing in the two-man event for the first time in his career, having joined forces with his Olympic teammate Lowry. And it has been so far so good for the European duo, who sit two shots behind leaders Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn with 18-holes left to play.
Having entered the weekend at 13-under-par for the tournament, McIlroy and Lowry knew they needed to go low in the better ball third round to keep themselves in the hunt heading into Sunday's alternate shot format.
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It was a fairly slow start to Saturday by McIlroy and Lowry's standards, who made just one birdie in their opening six holes to drift down the leaderboard. The pair soon kicked into form though, making birdies at the seventh and ninth to make the turn at three-under for the day.
Keen to make their move, an explosive back-nine followed, as they made three birdies in four holes between the 10th and 13th. After back-to-back pars, McIlroy and Lowry made another birdie at the 16th before adding an eighth at the final hole of the day to move to 21-under for the tournament.
More than pleased with the impressive finish, McIlroy said post-round: "We absolutely finished strong. It was a tricky day. The wind was blowing. We had some chances early on that we didn't take advantage of. We birdied the two par-fives on the front nine and then we definitely got it going around the turn.
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"I hit a lovely shot into nine and was able to convert that, and I think that gave us some really good momentum going into the back nine." And after making their move late on, the four-time major champion is more than looking forward to his first taste of TPC Louisiana on a Sunday.
"[I] can't wait," he added. "I think to make those birdies coming in and to only be two behind, alternate shot is a tough format, and yeah, you want to be within a couple strokes of the lead. I thought it was important to finish the way we did, and yeah, excited to have a chance to win tomorrow."
Despite debuting together at the Zurich, McIlroy and Lowry know each other well having played alongside each other in the Olympic Games and Ryder Cup, in a relationship that spans 25-years. Four-time major champion McIlroy believes this has only helped their partnership in New Orleans this week.
"“I think we know what makes the other one tick in some ways,” he commented. “We've known each other for 25 years. So yeah, I think so. I think it's a friend, and he tries to keep me positive at times. I have to try to keep him positive at times, and I'd say it's worked really well for the first three days.”
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