Shane Lowry came out in defense of his Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy after he missed out on clinching his fifth major championship at the weekend.
The Northern Irishman suffered agony at Pinehurst Sunday when he watched the chance of ending his decade-long major drought painfully slip through his fingers once again.
Holding a two-shot lead, McIlroy carded three bogeys across the final five holes – missing two putts from a combined distance of seven feet with Bryson DeChambeau wrapping up victory at the US Open.
McIlroy described the final-round implosion as ‘probably the toughest’ day of his career but close friend Lowry was quick to rally around him on social media in the aftermath of his heartbreak.
‘From the outside looking in… this game is easy,’ said Lowry, who will represent Ireland alongside McIlroy at the Olympics this summer.
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‘But in reality it’s the worst game of all. We are very fortunate to get what we do from this game but over the last 24 hours it’s hit me. We do it for not only ourselves but for our family, friends and fans.
‘What Rory has gone through is as tough as it gets in our game but I would like to encourage people if anything please be kind.’
McIlroy fled the course within minutes of DeChambeau sinking the winning par putt and announced the following day that he will not be returning for a month.
‘I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defense of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon,’ he said in a statement Monday as he opened up on the ‘tough’ day for the first time.
The Scottish Open is held on July 11, meaning McIlroy has nearly a month until his next competition.
His stint away from the limelight comes not only after his catastrophic collapse, but also amid a tumultuous month away from the course.
Last week, on the eve of the US Open, he announced he was calling off the divorce from his wife of seven years, Erica Stoll.
It was only a month ago, before the PGA Championship in May, that McIlroy announced that he and Erica were to split due to their marriage being ‘irretrievably broken’.
But on the Tuesday before the tournament, McIlroy said in a statement: ‘There have been rumors about my personal life recently, which is unfortunate. Responding to each rumor is a fool’s game.
‘Over the past weeks, Erica and I have realized that our best future was as a family together. Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning.’
On Monday, the couple were pictured together for the first time since the divorce was called off. They were seen spending time together with their daughter, Poppy.
McIlroy had been slated to play this week’s signature event on the PGA Tour, the Travelers Championship, but has withdrawn.
Lowry and McIlroy won the Zurich Classic in New Orleans back in April, just two weeks before the news of McIlroy’s divorce filing.
The duo celebrated their triumph with an impromptu rendition of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’.