Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry teamed up on a bit of a Ryder Cup whim, and they wound up winning the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday at TPC Louisiana.
McIlroy and Lowry tied Martin Trainer and Chad Ramey after four rounds of regulation on 25-under 263, and then the Irish duo won the title with an alternate-shot par on the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th, at the Pete Dye design.
Then the party started, and it was tremendous. McIlroy and Lowry showed up to the post-tournament concert, which featured the band The Molly Ringwald’s, in the event's 19th hole. The champions found themselves on the stage, of course as the toast of the day, and then McIlroy took the mic. And he sang.
McIlroy went a full couple of minutes singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" while the crowd lapped up the whole thing. He actually sounded pretty on tune, definitely above board for a karaoke-level singer. And McIlroy knew all the words really well.
This is not a drill. Rory McIlroy singing Don't Stop Believing pic.twitter.com/y5PkEDoqo4
— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) April 28, 2024
The Ulsterman has been known to sing a song or two on a victorious Ryder Cup team bus, particularly after the win at Marco Simone in Italy last fall. That continued through here, though he definitely won't be confused with a crooner.
It's unclear how this might compare to concerts at other PGA Tour or LIV Golf events, but it was a delight for the crowd.
The good news for tournament officials is that McIlroy and Lowry are almost certainly coming back in 2025 to defend their title that they won this year.
"I think, yeah, to win any PGA Tour event is very cool, but to do it with one of your closest friends, we've known each other for a long, long time, probably like over 20 years," McIlroy said after the win. "So to think about where we met and where we've come from, to be on this stage and do this together, really, really cool journey that we've been a part of, and yeah, just awesome to be able to do it alongside this guy [Shane]."
