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Rory McIlroy Not Playing Zurich Classic As Shane Lowry Has Surprising New Partner

Lowry will partner with Brooks Koepka in the PGA Tour’s lone team event.
Max Schreiber|
Rory McIlroy won't be playing the 2026 Zurich Classic, but his partner Shane Lowry will team up with Brooks Koepka.
Rory McIlroy won't be playing the 2026 Zurich Classic, but his partner Shane Lowry will team up with Brooks Koepka. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Rory McIlroy won’t be playing in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but his partner, Shane Lowry, has found a new teammate: Brooks Koepka. 

The two have committed to the PGA Tour’s lone team event, being played at TPC Louisiana from April 23–26. 

In 2024, Lowry and McIlroy, good friends, partnered up for the tournament and won. Last year, in their title defense, they placed T12 as Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak snatched the title. 

This year, however, McIlroy is likely cutting down on his schedule and also withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this month with a back injury, before grinding out a T46 at the Players Championship the following week. The Zurich Classic is two weeks after the Masters.

Lowry has made six starts this season, including a runner-up at the Cognizant Classic, where he fumbled a three-stroke lead on holes 16 and 17. The 2019 British Open winner is looking for his first win since the 2024 Zurich. 

Koepka, meanwhile, was reinstated by the PGA Tour after leaving LIV Golf in December. One of the stipulations of his return, though, is that he isn’t eligible for signature events unless he qualifies. Therefore, winning an event like the Zurich would boost the five-time major champion’s status on Tour.

The Zurich Classic does not award world ranking points as a team event, but grants 400 FedEx Cup points and a two-year exemption to each winner. Plus $1,372,750 each from the $9.5 million purse.

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Max Schreiber
MAX SCHREIBER

Max Schreiber is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, covering golf. Before joining SI in October 2024, the Mahwah, N.J., native, worked as an associate editor for the Golf Channel and wrote for RyderCup.com and FanSided. He is a multiplatform producer for Newsday and has a bachelor's in communications and journalism from Quinnipiac University. In his free time, you can find him doing anything regarding the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Islanders.

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