Rory McIlroy says 30-foot eagle putt was 'the last thing' on his mind during 90-minute Zurich Classic delay

Rory McIlroy disclosed that the 30-foot eagle on Saturday was the last thing he expected during the 90-minute Zurich Classic delay. McIlroy is paired with Shane Lowry to play in the only team event of the PGA Tour this week. In the tournament's third round, McIlroy dropped an eagle on the final hole to conclude the round.

Following the round, McIlroy joined a press conference at TPC Louisiana and shared about the eagle putt. His words read ( via ASAP Sports):

“I think the secret is not thinking about it in those 90 minutes. We had a bit of lunch and we were watching some highlights from last year and talking about a bunch of -- where we're going to go for dinner tonight. The last thing on my mind during the delay was the putt, and then once I got back out there, I sort of concentrated on it and made sure I did what I needed to do and just a bonus for it to go in.”

Expand Tweet

Also, Shane Lowry shared about his third round in the same presser. His statement read:

“I feel like we played pretty well today, I think. There was a lot of holes where both of us had chances. Yeah, we went out and we did what we had to do. Look, we knew we were going to have to go out and shoot a really low score today…I was pretty happy to have Rory go out and eagle the last there. It makes dinner taste nicer and kind of puts us in a great position going into tomorrow.”

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will next tee off at 1:33 pm ET for the fourth round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

How did Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry perform at the 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans so far?

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are sitting at T6 on the 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans leaderboard. The duo scored 22 under in total after shooting 64 in the first round with three birdies on the front nine, along with an eagle and four birdies on the back nine.

In the second round, the pair scored 69 with three birdies on the front nine, along with an eagle and two birdies on the back nine.

The duo scored 61 in the third round with four birdies along with an eagle on the front nine and four birdies along with an eagle on the back nine.

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry won the tournament last season with a total score of 25 under after shooting 61 in the first round with 11 birdies and 70 in the second round with 4 birdies. They shot 64 and 68 with eight birdies and seven birdies, respectively.

About the author

Suchita Chakraborty is a senior golf writer at Sportskeeda. She did her post-graduation at St. Xavier's University. For a year now, she has developed a riveting inclination toward golf, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy being her top-tier motivational figures to indulge in the sport. She even lives by the words of the Hall of Famer, "You can always become better", which impels her to excel every day. Her strong suit in golf is covering the LPGA Tour, especially the nooks and crannies of the international event, the Solheim Cup. As a pastime amusement, Suchita also engages herself in reading about golf controversies. Her favorite pick is ‘LIV and Let Die’ by Alan Shipnuck, which covers the PGA-LIV beef.

Know More

Edited by Prem Deshpande