Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy paired together at US Open
Rory McIlroy's bid to rediscover his form at this week's US Open may have been given a significant boost as organisers paired him with close friend Shane Lowry in a dream grouping for Irish fans over the first two days at Oakmont.
The duo were among the first players on the course on Wednesday morning as they played the back nine together and got a look at the notorious rough. Shortly before the end of their practice, the USGA confirmed that they will be spending a lot more time together this week.
McIlroy, Lowry and Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose will be in an early-late grouping which will go out at 7.40am local time (12.40pm Irish time) for Thursday's opening round and 1.25pm (6.25pm Irish time) on Friday afternoon.
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While McIlroy's struggles to kick on from his glory at Augusta have been a talking point coming into the year's third major, so too has Lowry's chances at a course where he held the Sunday lead when it last hosted the US Open in 2016. The duo were, of course, teammate for Ireland at the Paris Olympics last summer and were victorious as a team on the PGA Tour last year in New Orleans.
The presence of Rose adds but another subplot given the English veteran was the one who came out the wrong side of that unforgettable playoff at the Masters in April when McIlroy completed the career grand slam.
Among other eye-catching groups the trio of PGA champion Scottie Scheffler alongside Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa will attract plenty of galleries while fan favourite Jordan Spieth will play alongside LIV Golf duo Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson.
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Plans and targets, goals and motivations, the driving why, the guiding north star. Rory McIlroy, it is clear, doesn't really have any of the above right now. Not like he had them before April 13, anyway. But eight-plus weeks of shrugging and pausing and pensive pondering, hasn't stopped McIlroy being pressed on all of the above either. Tuesday at Oakmont was another such occasion. In its setting and presentation it's a pre-tournament press conference but for the post-Augusta 2025 version of McIlroy, such things have become something else. Lifestyle therapy session meets corporate job interview meets high-performance podcast. Interspersed between the enquiries around his driver, the devilish rough around Oakmont and strength versus length, McIlroy was pushed on a 'five-year plan for this next phase of Rory' and 'resetting difficulties' and 'regaining motivation' in his professional life. 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Then he lifted a replica of the clubhouse and put on a green jacket. Since, he's not had so much as a five-day plan. Last weekend, when a first missed cut of the year gave him unexpected time off, he spent some of it playing tennis with Harry Diamond. Hobbies are more important to him now. He's been travelling with the family too. Motivations, quirky things at the best of times, have changed. It was striking that after McIlroy left the interview room, Bryson DeChambeau followed him in. The tone was…different. The reigning champion, who held strong when McIlroy imploded at Pinehurst last year, was asked about his motivations. "Doing it for the fans, patrons and the people that are viewing myself on YouTube,' DeChambeau replied. 'That's really what gets me up in the morning.' More YouTube then, Rory. Yet the McIlroy mind has sharpened. Landing in to the week of a tournament which 'went from probably my least favourite major to probably my favourite because of what it asks from you' does that. 'I think it's [about] trying to have a little bit of amnesia and forget about what happened six weeks ago,' McIlroy said. 'I worked incredibly hard on my game from October last year all the way up until April this year. It was nice to sort of see the fruits of my labour come to fruition and have everything happen. You have to enjoy that. 'At some point, you have to realize that there's a little bit more golf left to play this season: here, Portrush, Ryder Cup. Those are obviously the three big things that I'm looking at.' Oakmont wasn't kind to him in 2016. It kicked off a run of three-straight missed US Open cuts. Since, he has six top-10s in a row with back-to-back second-place finishes. To extend that run, many things have to be fixed. But first thing's first. 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Asked how big an impact it had made at Quail Hollow not to have his 'gamer' driver, McIlroy pointed to the eventual winner: 'it wasn't a big deal for Scottie, so it shouldn't have been a big deal for me.' On Tuesday morning he found some fairways. The course had mercifully been giving a soaking since the week before. 'There's definitely been a little bit of rain since. Last Monday felt impossible. I birdied the last two holes for 81. It didn't feel like I played that bad,' he said. "I'm glad we have spotters up there because I played last Monday and you hit a ball off the fairway and you were looking for a good couple of minutes just to find it. It's very penal if you miss. "But the person with the most patience and the best attitude this week is the one that's going to win.'
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