Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry combine to win PGA TOUR's Zurich Classic of New Orleans

From representing Ireland as amateurs to being teammates at a Ryder Cup and Olympic Games, there is not much Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry have not achieved alongside each other. But a victory on the PGA TOUR as a duo was one – until now.

The Major Championship-winning pair – friends for more than two decades – teamed up to come through a play-off to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday. 

Lowry capitalised on a super chip on to the 18th green by McIlroy by sinking a birdie putt for a 68 to force extra holes as they joined Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer on 25 under at TPC Louisiana.

American Ramey and Frenchman Trainer had earlier shot a nine-under-par 63 in the final round foursomes to vault up the leaderboard and set the clubhouse target.  

A par at the first play-off hole, the par-five 18th, proved enough for McIlroy and Lowry after Trainer missed from six feet to extend the contest.

“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 said.

McIlroy and Lowry, who began the day two shots behind Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn, were one over through six holes, before finding their mojo to play the final 12 holes in five-under.

"It showed a lot about our character and how much we wanted to win this thing,” Lowry said.

For McIlroy, it was his 25th PGA TOUR title, while for Lowry it was his first since victory at The Open in 2019.

“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.”