Rory McIlroy could retire a happy man after Masters win, says close friend

On Sunday, Augusta National Golf Club witnessed Rory McIlroy claim his first-ever Masters title. After four rounds of thrilling golf, McIlroy battled Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff and emerged victorious. With this win, the 35-year-old also became one of the few golfers to achieve a career grand slam.

McIlroy's victory at Augusta was emotional not only because he won a career grand slam, but also because he had been searching for a Masters victory for quite some time. After he won, his close friend Shane Lowry spoke to the media and said McIlroy could retire a happy man now.

Lowry said (via Golf Channel):

“This means everything to him. It’s all he thinks about. It’s all he talks about. He’s always said to me that he’d retire a happy man if he won the green jacket. So, I told Erica, 'He can retire now.'"

You can check what Shane Lowry said about Rory McIlroy in the video below:

Further, in the above-mentioned media interaction, Shane Lowry spoke about Rory McIlroy's journey having plenty of hurdles. He said that McIlroy's Masters victory was a sign for the rest to keep going and concluded by saying that the Northern Irishman always wanted to win the career grand slam.

McIlroy and Lowry have been friends since they were juniors who were coming up. The duo has been spotted sharing a tight bond on the course, with the most recent spotting taking place at The Masters when Lowry celebrated McIlroy's daughter Poppy scoring a putt at the Par-3 contest.

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How much did Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry earn at the Masters?

The 2025 Masters had a total purse of $21,000,000. While the lion's share of this purse, $4,200,000, went to Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry earned $77,700 for his T42 finish. Here is a detailed look at the payout for the Masters at Augusta:

• 1 Rory McIlroy -11 $4,200,000
• 2 Justin Rose -11 $2,268,000
• 3 Patrick Reed -9 $1,428,000
• 4 Scottie Scheffler -8 $1,008,000
• T5 Sungjae Im -7 $798,000
• T5 Bryson DeChambeau -7 $798,000
• 7 Ludvig Aberg -6 $703,500
• T8 Jason Day -5 $588,000
• T8 Corey Conners -5 $588,000
• T8 Xander Schauffele -5 $588,000
• T8 Zach Johnson -5 $588,000
• T12 Harris English -4 $462,000
• T12 Max Homa -4 $462,000
• T14 Bubba Watson -3 $336,000
• T14 Jon Rahm -3 $336,000
• T14 Jordan Spieth -3 $336,000
• T14 Tyrrell Hatton -3 $336,000
• T14 Matt McCarty -3 $336,000
• T14 Tom Hoge -3 $336,000
• T14 Collin Morikawa -3 $336,000
• T21 Hideki Matsuyama -2 $210,000
• T21 Davis Riley -2 $210,000
• T21 Tommy Fleetwood -2 $210,000
• T21 Daniel Berger -2 $210,000
• T21 Byeong Hun An -2 $210,000
• T21 Viktor Hovland -2 $210,000
• T27 Aaron Rai -1 $158,500
• T27 Michael Kim -1 $158,500
• T29 Sahith Theegala E $142,800
• T29 Denny McCarthy E $142,800
• T29 Joaquin Niemann E $142,800
• T32 Brian Campbell 1 $118,860
• T32 Maverick McNealy 1 $118,860
• T32 Rasmus Hojgaard 1 $118,860
• T32 Max Greyserman 1 $118,860
• T36 Justin Thomas 2 $118,860
• T36 Brian Harman 2 $96,600
• T36 Patrick Cantlay 2 $96,600
• T36 Charl Schwartzel 2 $96,600
• T40 Matt Fitzpatrick 3 $96,600
• T40 Nick Taylor 3 $84,000
• T42 Akshay Bhatia 4 $84,000
• T42 Danny Willett 4 $77,700
• T42 J.T. Poston 4 $77,700
• T42 Shane Lowry 4 $77,700
• T46 Wyndham Clark 5 $59,535
• T46 Sam Burns 5 $59,535
• T46 Davis Thompson 5 $59,535
• 49 Min Woo Lee 6 $59,535
• 50 J.J. Spaun 7 $52,920
• 51 Nico Echavarria 8 $51,660
• T52 Stephan Jaeger 9 $49,980
• T52 Tom Kim 9 $49,980