Rory McIlroy to honour promise to PGA Tour rival after skipping £2.7m golf event (2025)

Rory McIlroy is set to return to action on the PGA Tour next week after being inspired by close friend Shane Lowry, who has confirmed the duo will defend their title at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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Rory McIlroy will make his first appearance since his Masters triumph at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans next week. It means he will fulfil a promise to Shane Lowry that he'll be on the green to defend their title

McIlroy, having finally got his hands on the green jacket and completed his career grand slam, is taking a pass on the £2.7million RBC Heritage this week for some quality time with his family in Northern Ireland. In fact, he had already hinted last November that he might cut the event from his calendar, whether or not he emerged victorious at August.

Fans have been keen to learn when the Northern Irishman will next step onto a golf course - and close friend Lowry has now answered that question. The pair clinched victory at Zurich last year, and McIlroy is all set to go for gold again next week.

Lowry didn't want to put any pressure on the major winner after his epic triumph last weekend, has revealed that McIlroy is raring to get back in the swing of things.

"We'll be there," Lowry confirmed to Golf Week. "I talked to him [on Wednesday] morning. We're good to go.

"To be honest, I didn't want him to feel like he had to play because of me. He's not letting me down if he wanted to take some time [off]. He feels like he wants to get back out there. He feels like next week is a good week to [return to the course]. So, yeah, we'll be there."

Interestingly McIlroy was slapped with a £2.2m fine for his withdrawal from the RBC Heritage back in 2023. His early exit was due to exceeding the limit of missing more than one 'signature event' per season, with another absence already on his record. Fresh from a disappointing performance at the Masters that year, McIlroy chose to simply shoulder the fine to reset mentally.

The rule that caught him out has since been scrapped, and McIlroy shared last November plans to scale back his golfing commitments.

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He told the Daily Telegraph: "There's a few tournaments that I played this year that I don't usually play and that I might not play next year. I played the Cognizant [Classic] in Palm Beach Gardens, [the Texas Open in] San Antonio and the [RBC Heritage in] Hilton Head.

"And I'll probably not play the first play-off event in Memphis. I mean, I finished basically dead last there this year, and only moved down one spot in the play-off standings.

"Well, at this point in my career... Hey, I'm 35 and have been out here for 17, 18 years, so I'm just going to go to the places that I enjoy and where I play well. Look I've done the hard slog, I've done that sort of 25 to 30 events a year. And I'm not getting any younger."