"Why was he there?": Rory McIlroy's presence at TGL semifinals triggers golf insider's suspicions

A day after winning his second Players Championship, Rory McIlroy attended the TGL semifinals on Tuesday between the Atlanta Drive Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club. Atlanta ultimately won handily, defeating The Bay Golf Club by a score of 9-3 to set up a showdown with the New York Golf Club in the inaugural TGL Finals Series.

McIlroy's good friend, Shane Lowry, played for The Bay while McIlroy's rival, Patrick Cantlay led Atlanta to victory. Cantlay and McIlroy's rivalry dates back to 2023, when the two were critical of one another during the Ryder Cup in Rome, Italy.

Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath discussed McIlroy's attendance at Tuesday's TGL match in an episode of their Fried Egg Golf podcast and speculated that he attended because of his friendship with Lowry.

"Rory was there. I had the observation, was he there to support Shane Lowry... or to root against Cantlay? What was the motivation there? Why was he there? But yeah, I think it was mostly just he was there with his family and Lowry's family," Porath mentioned (48:07 onwards).

McIlroy and Lowry have a long-documented friendship, with McIlroy being from Northern Ireland and Lowry being from Ireland. The two were partners at last year's Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April, in which they won the event in a playoff.

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How has Rory McIlroy performed in 2025 so far?

McIlroy after winning THE PLAYERS Championship 2025 (via Getty)

Rory McIlroy is off to a blistering start in 2025, having captured his second win of the year on Monday at The Players Championship. The four-time major champion has played in four PGA Tour events this year, having won two of them.

McIlroy's PGA Tour season began at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at the end of January into February. He won the event for the first time in his career, defeating good friend Shane Lowry by two shots. The two had entered the final day tied with one another. McIlroy shot a six-under-par 66 to Lowry's 68.

Rory McIlroy finished tied for 17th at The Genesis Invitational in February and tied for 15th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March. At The Players Championship over the weekend, McIlroy entered the final round trailing before getting off to a strong start ahead of the rain delay.

McIlroy started his round by going birdie-eagle on the first two holes, ultimately shooting a three-under-par 33 on the front nine. He had seven more holes to go when he entered the lengthy rain delay.

He ultimately finished tied for the lead with J.J. Spaun after 72 holes. In the three-hole playoff on Monday, McIlroy birdied the 16th hole before bogeying 17 and 18 to win comfortably over Spaun, who made a double bogey on 17.

Rory McIlroy's win at The Players was his first since 2019 and second overall. He aims to keep his hot streak heading into The Masters in a couple of weeks.