The 2025 Masters winner Rory McIlroy was greeted by childhood rival-turned-close-friend Shane Lowry at Augusta National - but there was a time when the pair did not see eye-to-eye. Shortly after McIlroy saw off Justin Rose in the playoff to complete the career Grand Slam and win his first Major since 2014, Lowry waited to greet his fellow Irishman.
Lowry, who had endured a frustrating weekend to finish T42 on four over par, waited for McIlroy as the Holywood native weaved through cheering fans and previous winners of the competition, draped in gleaming green jackets. Their eventual embrace looked set to bring McIlroy to tears, again.
These scenes would have been unthinkable in 2013, when the duo were not on talking terms after a huge falling out. In 2022, McIlroy explained that money was at the heart of their quarrel.
Back in 2013, Lowry and McIlroy were both represented by the Horizon Sports agency. The latter had a disagreement with the company and chose to walk away and find a different agency.
Explaining their current friendship and what caused their falling out all those years ago, McIlroy told the Irish Independent: "I would say very close early on, not-so-close in the middle, and closer than ever now.
"We’re being managed by the same person [Conor Ridge], in the same agency [Horizon Sports]. Then I had a fall-out with Horizon in 2013, it got a bit messy for a couple of years, not because one of us had done wrong to the other, but because of the circumstances."
The pair's friendship would be mended in Belfast, shortly after Lowry was victorious at the Bridgestone Invitational in 2015. Looking back on the time the duo saw eye-to-eye again, McIlroy added: "Shane won in Akron and I reached out to him.
"The BBC Sports Personality of the Year was in Belfast that year, and we went for a few drinks afterwards and had a really good chat. So it's really nice since he started playing here that we've got close again. Erica and Wendy [Shane's wife] get on great, and our kids are a similar age. It's all good."
When pushed on what exactly was the cause of the falling out, McIlroy replied: "Do you know what it was over? Money, exactly. It's the root of all evil."
Lowry and McIlroy's friendship is now stronger than ever, as was seen in the celebrations in Augusta. Despite enduring a nightmare final round, at a time when Lowry was not a million miles away from contention himself, there was visible joy in the Clara native's eyes when they embraced.
Those who tuned in to Netflix's iconic golf series 'Full Swing' will not have been surprised by Lowry's happiness for McIlroy. In a section of the show where Lowry is asked if he ever feels protective over McIlroy, Lowry said: "Nobody’s ever asked me that. But now that you say it, I probably would do, yeah.
"He gets a lot of unnecessary criticism from the general public, the golf media, the other players. Stuff like that can weigh heavily on people. I just feel like he gets a lot of s***. When you’re Rory McIlroy and you’re the greatest player of our generation, people are not themselves around you.
"So you meet people, you go hang out with them, and they’re not themselves. But when I hang out with him, I’m just myself. I think I’m probably a breath of fresh air to his life at times where he can just get away, be himself and be normal. I feel like I’m good for him - but he’s also really good for me as well.”
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