You might question how somebody of Rory McIlroy’s stature can hit the ball so far, but his singing talent isn’t quite so difficult to comprehend.
McIlroy delivered an enthusiastic rendition of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing after pairing with Shane Lowry to win the Zurich Classic.
With a karaoke tent on site in New Orleans, he could leave the Big Easy without breaking out at least one song.
He also got his beer down in pretty quick fashion.
McIlroy and Lowry, who are long-time friends, turned things around Sunday after a tough start and walked away PGA TOUR winners as team-mates.
“We went out there, we had loads of fun, and we won the tournament. You couldn’t ask for a better week,” Lowry said.
“To win any PGA TOUR event is very cool, but to do it with one of your closest friends … Think about where we met and where we’ve come from, to be on this stage and do this together – just awesome to be able to do it alongside this guy,” McIlroy added.
With a 1-over par score after six holes, Lowry and McIlroy had to respond fast, and they succeeded admirably.
“To play the last 12 holes in 5-under I think was very, very good,” Lowry said. “It showed a lot about our character and how much we wanted to win this thing.”
Both players are dreaming about Olympic glory this season.
“I know to go back to Ireland with an Olympic medal would be like a dream,” Lowry said.
“I was in a seven-way playoff in Tokyo for a bronze medal, and I’ve never tried so hard to finish third in my life,” added McIlroy.
The vibe in New Orleans was all-time this week, and McIlroy said it was a great experience.
“It’s not lost on me how cool that is. Every time I get to play in front of thousands of people, the little boy in me just thinks it’s so cool and so exciting,” McIlroy said. “The crowd really made the weekend.”
“Rory brings a crowd, and people love him. We’ve got a lot of love this week in New Orleans, and we’ve had just the best week,” added Lowry.
McIlroy and Lowry felt this injection of ‘fun’ was great for the players on the PGA Tour.
“I think sort of reinjecting a little bit of that fun back into it in a week like this week – it can always help,” McIlroy said.
“Hopefully we can both kick on now,” Lowry said of good things to come. “It was great fun all week, everything about it was just brilliant.”
