Shane Lowry to Rory McIlroy: I'm a breath of fresh air in your life
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry's bromance was on full display during the third series of Full Swing which was released on Netflix today.
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry's bromance was on full display during the latest season of Full Swing.
McIlroy features heavily in the first two episodes of the seven-part docuseries on Netflix that was released on 25 February.
Episode two - titled 'Through Thick and Thin' - focuses on McIlroy and Lowry's bid to claim Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
During one segment, Lowry was asked whether he feels protective of his European Ryder Cup teammate.
A momentarily gobsmacked Lowry replied: "Nobody's ever asked me that."
He added: "But now that you say it, I probably would do, yeah."
Lowry continued: "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."
Lowry was correct in saying that McIlroy attracts a lot of criticism from media commentators and even fellow Tour players.
His protracted U-turn on LIV Golf appears to have rubbed some high-profile players the wrong way.
Former player turned pundit Johnson Wagner was the latest to rip into the Ulsterman after McIlroy said men's pro golf should now move forward together and forget past arguments.
As for McIlroy, he was just as complimentary of Lowry.
"The Tour can feel like a lonely place at times, so to have a friend like Shane who is always up for a laugh and doing fun things, this year more than any other year, it's really shown its importance to me," McIlroy said.
"We live very close to each other and I’d say the weeks that we're home we probably see each other five times a week.
"It's nice to have someone like that, who you can pick the phone up to about anything, whether it's golf or stuff away from golf.
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"Sometimes I've struggled with the balance of being the best golfer, the best husband, the best dad.
"Sometimes I get overwhelmed and it can get a bit much for me.
"I see how Shane does it with a lot of ease. Sometimes you have to focus on one or the other.
"He's really good at that and I see him as a good role model for me.
"I can learn a lot from him and how he handles everything in his life."
Whilst McIlroy and Lowry are now good friends, it hasn't always been amicable.
They did go through a period of estrangement in 2013 due to McIlroy's dispute with Horizon Sports Management.
At the time, the pair were both represented by the agency.
Ultimately, the dispute was settled out of court in 2015.
Lowry later told of how he felt that he was put in a difficult position.
"We went from friends to being acquaintances and it was just awkward," Lowry previously told.
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