{"id":556171,"date":"2026-03-31T13:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/556171\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T13:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:09:10","slug":"rory-mcilroy-skips-zurich-classic-as-shane-lowry-selects-brooks-koepka-as-new-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/556171\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy skips Zurich Classic as Shane Lowry selects Brooks Koepka as new partner"},"content":{"rendered":"

GolfMagic understands Rory McIlroy has opted to skip this year\u2019s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, paving the way for Shane Lowry to form a new partnership with Brooks Koepka.<\/p>\n

McIlroy<\/a> and Lowry<\/a> famously won this team event in 2024 and they returned to defend their title last season, finishing in a tie for 12th.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those were the only two years McIlroy has ever played in this tournament, which has been running as a team event at TPC Louisiana since 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the grand slam champion limiting his PGA Tour<\/a> schedule this season in a bid to focus on the majors and spend more time with his family, McIlroy has chosen to bypass the New Orleans event from 23-26 April.<\/p>\n

The only team event on the PGA Tour has this year been sandwiched in between two Signature Events in the RBC Heritage (16-19 April) and new Cadillac Championship (30 April to 3 May), which means McIlroy’s attention has been drawn to those instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Not to mention the Zurich Classic falls two weeks after The Masters<\/a>, where McIlroy defends the green jacket at Augusta from 9-12 April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier in the season, McIlroy told reporters he would be choosing tournaments to play in “that best fit” his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McIlroy’s absence from the Zurich Classic has left Lowry to seek a new partner \u2014 and the 2019 Open champion has wasted little time in selecting Koepka<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Shane <\/p>\n

Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka<\/p>\n

Five-time major champion and former World No.1 Koepka last played in this event in 2019 alongside his brother Chase Koepka when finishing T22.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The new pairing of Lowry and Koepka makes a lot of sense on paper given they are good friends, spend time together off the course and both reside in Jupiter, Florida.<\/p>\n

But perhaps the most logical aspect of the partnership is they both represent Srixon and use the brand’s Z-Star golf ball, albeit with Lowry in an XV version and Koepka in a Diamond model – something that will come in handy for them in the foursomes format.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans comprises two rounds of fourballs and two rounds of foursomes. The fourballs (two balls in play where the best score is taken) are staged on the first and third rounds, with foursomes (one ball in play and alternate shots) reserved for the second and final rounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Koepka, 35, returned to the PGA Tour earlier this season following a four-season stint on LIV Golf where he won five times.<\/p>\n

Both Lowry and Koepka have played in six events on the PGA Tour so far this season.<\/p>\n

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Koepka has picked up one top-10 finish, with Lowry chalking up three top-10s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GolfMagic understands Rory McIlroy has opted to skip this year\u2019s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, paving the way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-556171","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}