Shane Lowry famously bought a case of wine for Rory McIlroy from the Augusta National clubhouse after his best friend’s history-making win at The Masters in 2025.
However, Lowry didn’t spend Sunday night with McIlroy this year after the 36-year-old defended his title.
Last year, McIlroy opened up on the gift Lowry gave him after he completed the career Grand Slam.
“So, funny story, when I won Shane Lowry went straight to the sommelier at Augusta National and he said I gotta get a couple of cases of wine off you, and they’re like Mr Lowry, we don’t allow people to take wine out of the club,“ McIlroy said.
“And he goes, ‘no seriously, this is a one-off exception or whatever’.
“So they let him buy one case of 1990 Château Lafite Rothschild. So that’s what we had, that night to celebrate. So that was a very nice gift. He bought it, and he brought it over to my rental house that night, and we had a few glasses of that, which was very nice.”
McIlroy became only the fourth man in history to successfully defend his Masters title last week, while Lowry posted a final round of 80 to finish in a tie for 30th.
Now a six-time major winner, McIlroy was obviously over the moon with his Masters victory, while Lowry was left utterly dejected after his final round at Augusta National.
Lowry was obviously delighted to see McIlroy play so well at The Masters, but interestingly, he did not spend Sunday night with his best friend like he did in 2025.
Why Shane Lowry didn’t spend the night with Rory McIlroy after his Masters win
The 2019 Open Championship winner spoke to reporters after his opening round at the RBC Heritage on Thursday.
He responded when asked if he spent any time with McIlroy on Sunday night in Augusta.
“I wasn’t,“ Lowry said.
“Obviously the stories from last year when I called over his house with a case of wine and all that
“I texted him Sunday night and I said, ‘honestly I’m so happy for you, but I don’t have it in me tonight to come over and celebrate with you’.
“I was feeling a bit down and dejected, so I just sat at home with my crew. I’ll see him in a couple of weeks down in Florida.“
That’s totally understandable from Lowry. He must have felt lower than low after his finish at Augusta National on Sunday.
And McIlroy undoubtedly would have completely understood that as well.
Shane Lowry says how he really feels after Masters meltdown
The Irishman was asked how he has been feeling this week after his disastrous final round at The Masters on Sunday.
“The alarm went off this morning and I felt like Thursday came around pretty quickly this week,“ Lowry admitted.
“It’s been a tough few days and I felt like I played a lot of good golf last week and got nothing out of it. It’s always hard when you prepare so much for a tournament like that and perform as good as I did for a few days.
“I tried to take as many positives as I can.
“I felt like I played nice today and I kept the ball in play, but it was tough out there. It was windy and tricky out there.
“Hopefully I can go out tomorrow and shoot a low one.“
