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Shane Lowry's actions towards Rory McIlroy speak volumes at Masters as he loses thousands

Rory McIlroy won his second Masters title at Augusta National on Sunday and Shane Lowry came up short again

[Masters champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates with Shane Lowry of Ireland after winning back-to-back Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (Photo by Joel Marklund/Augusta National/Getty Images)]

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Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry celebrated together after McIlroy's second Masters win(Image: Augusta National, Augusta National/Getty Images)

Shane Lowry stayed behind to congratulate close friend Rory McIlroy after the Holywood star secured his second Green Jacket at Augusta National. McIlroy claimed back-to-back Masters titles, fending off both Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Young while surpassing $13 million (9.68m) in career earnings at the tournament - more than any other player in its history.

Lowry and McIlroy have been close friends for years, representing the European Ryder Cup team together on multiple occasions. The 39-year-old waited at Augusta National to be amongst the first to congratulate the six-time major champion despite his own final round heartbreak.

The former Open winner did the same the previous year when McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam in the absence of his parents. This time around, Lowry tumbled down the leaderboard and out of contention after posting an eight-over 80 in the final round.

The Offaly native started Sunday in fourth position on the Masters leaderboard and would have taken home a cheque for 805,961 had he maintained that spot. However, after dropping down the rankings and finishing in a tie for 30th place, he collected 124,500 though he made sure to celebrate his friend's success before dwelling on his own struggles.

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"Good things come to those who wait maybe," McIlroy said on what he learned from Augusta National. "Just keep going. I find myself in a very similar position today to where I was in the last round last year, two or three behind, but I played solid golf after that.

"I was 4-under for an 11-hole stretch there, which is what I needed to do to give myself that cushion going up the last. I just tried really hard to focus on myself. I thought, if I could get to 14-under, I thought that everyone else would struggle to get to that score. So that was the number I had in my head. I got to 13 on the last and had that two-shot cushion.

"I didn't quite get there, but yeah, just keep going. Keep your head down and keep it going. If you put the hours in and work on the right things, eventually it will come good for you."

[AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 08: Poppy McIlroy (C), daughter of Rory McIlroy (L) of Northern Ireland, celebrates her putt with Iris Lowry (R) and Shane Lowry (2nd R) of Ireland on the ninth green during the Par Three Contest prior to the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 08, 2026 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)]

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The golfers were joined by their respective children during the par-three contest at Augusta National(Image: Hector Vivas, Getty Images)

McIlroy went on to outline how Augusta National leaves plenty of opportunity for psychological demons to affect players. "You have a lot of time to think," he said. "You're out there a long time. There's a long time between shots. There's a long time between rounds.

"Of all the big sports, I do think it is the most mental. It's the most challenging mentally. I think it's hard to stay in the same mental space for four days in a row because even I was in a great mental space, like say on the 13th tee shot, for example.

"All of my practice rounds up here, the weeks leading into it, Monday, Tuesday, great. I hit two left on Wednesday off the tee. Then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I didn't sniff hitting the fairway.

"So it's just there's little things that happen that just start to make you second guess things. It's just very hard to stay on the right not in the right spot mentally, but the same spot mentally for a long period of time."

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