Bryson DeChambeau couldn’t get a word out of Rory McIlroy.
As for Shane Lowry, he didn’t want to speak a word about the 2025 Masters winner. After a disappointing finish in the third round, the Irish professional golfer, finishing tied for 42nd (+4) at Augusta National, was disinterested in talking about the apparent story of the weekend — McIlroy.
That was before the epic playoff between McIlroy and Justin Rose, well before CBS and Jim Nantz masterfully told the tale. But Lowry wasn’t keen to be part of it. He wasn’t thrilled with his own play, bogeying his final two holes to finish with an even-par 72 on Saturday.
At the time, he sat in T6, seven strokes behind McIlroy’s lead.
Lowry had a tournament to win. He didn’t come close, but that didn’t mean he was ready to throw in the towel and wax poetic about the golfer he — and 93 others — had spent the entire weekend chasing.
A reporter found that out the hard way when they asked Lowry, “Did you find yourself looking back at all at Rory?”
It was a fair question, given that McIlroy and Lowry are close friends.
“No, I’m not going to stand here and talk about Rory for 10 minutes,” Lowry said. “I’m trying to win the tournament, as well. So, I know that’s what you all want me to talk about, but I just had a sh*t finish. I’ve got a chance to win the Masters tomorrow. I’m going to hit some balls.”
Lowry acknowledged the strain of the moment at hand, echoing similar concerns McIlroy and Collin Morikawa raised. As the world of men’s professional golf navigates a new post-LIV world, one topic at the forefront of discussion is the evolving relationship between players and the media.
“We talked about Collin Morikawa a few weeks ago,” Lowry expressed. “I think we need time. I think I need half an hour now to sit there and gather my thoughts. I can’t be coming to talk to you guys straight away. It shouldn’t be happening. I don’t agree with it. Tennis players have to talk to the media, but they have an hour, half an hour before they have to do it. I feel like we should have the same thing. And that’s how I feel. I’m probably going to say something stupid. I probably already said something stupid because I’m pissed off right now.”
On that note, Lowry left.
He would finish the Masters on the same sour note, but his abrupt exit echoed the sentiments Morikawa was trying to convey earlier in the week. In this new era of golf, players are no longer willing to let the media dictate their story, especially when there’s still a tournament to be won.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.