Shane Lowry makes Rory McIlroy and Amanda Balionis laugh during sit-down interview

Shane Lowry made Rory McIlroy and Amanda Balionis chuckle during their sit-down interview after firing a sizzling 61 in the third-round fourballs at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. 

McIlroy, 35, and Lowry, 38, pushed it to 22-under par after their 61 in Saturday's easier fourballs.

But it still leaves them with work to do in order to defend their title as they sit T6 and five shots off the pace heading into Sunday's tougher foursomes. 

Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin are currently out in front at 27-under par and three shots clear of their nearest pursuers, Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III and Ryo Hisatsune and Takumi Kanaya.

McIlroy and Lowry are attempting to become the first team to successfully defend the PGA Tour's lone team event of the season.

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans was turned into a team event in 2017.

The Irish duo made two eagles in the second round, including one on the par-5 18th courtesy of McIlroy tucking away a 35-footer from the back of the green.

During the round, CBS analyst and former Masters champion Trevor Immelman indicated this is the "happiest and most relaxed" he has ever since McIlroy during his PGA Tour career. 

McIlroy is making his first start this week since winning The Masters on Sunday April 13, a victory that saw him become just the sixth player in the men's game to complete the career grand slam. 

CBS interviewer Balionis put that to McIlroy during their sit-down interview after the round, and it was there where Lowry made them both stifle a laugh.

"Trevor Immelman (in the CBS studio) said this is the most relaxed and the happiest he has ever seen you in his career, would you go along with that?" Balionis asked McIlroy. 

"Why would he say that?" said new Masters champion McIlroy with a wry smile.

"I don't know, did anything happen?!" replied Balionis.

Lowry, who mocked McIlroy in the first round, then chimed in with: "If he's not relaxed and happy now, he never will be..."

McIlroy continued: "Yeah, I mean look, after the last couple of weeks and what happened at Augusta I think coming here, Shane asked me right after The Masters whether I wanted to still play here this week and I said 'absolutely'. 

"It's such a perfect way to sort of get back in the swing of things, and being here with my man and trying to defend the title is pretty cool, we have a lot of fun out here and that was a great way to finish."

Watch their full interview with Balionis here:

After their interview, McIlroy met up with a fan who had flown 8,200 miles from Chinese Taipei to watch his hero.  

"I will be thinking about this moment every day for the rest of my life," said huge McIlroy fan, Wilson Chen. 

Watch their interaction here:

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