Shane Lowry admits he feels protective over fellow golf superstar Rory McIlroy.
The pair’s unique friendship comes into full focus during the latest season of Netflix’s ‘Full Swing’ – which was released on Tuesday.
Episode two follows their triumph as a team at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and shows just how close they truly are.
Lowry and McIlroy first became acquainted in the 2000s as junior golfers playing for Ireland.
They have since relocated to the same neighbourhood in Florida, becoming inseparable off the course.
While they continue to fight against each other for individual titles, with Lowry winning one major title to McIlroy’s four, their friendship was thrust into the spotlight in 2023.
Lowry sprung to McIlroy’s defence at the Ryder Cup after a heated altercation with Joe LaCava, confronting the American caddie and then bundling his teammate into a car when tensions boiled over outside.
During ‘Full Swing’, Lowry is asked whether he feels ‘protective’ of McIlroy, leaving him momentarily lost for words.
“Nobody’s ever asked me that,” Lowry said after pausing to consider his answer.
“But now that you say it, I probably would do, yeah.
“He gets a lot of unnecessary criticism from the general public, the golf media, the other players.
“Stuff like that can weigh heavily on people. I just feel like he gets a lot of s***.”
Lowry added: “When you’re Rory McIlroy and you’re the greatest player of our generation, people are not themselves around you.
“So you meet people, you go hang out with them, and they’re not themselves.
“But when I hang out with him, I’m just myself. I think I’m probably a breath of fresh air to his life at times where he can just get away, be himself and be normal.
“I feel like I’m good for him – but he’s also really good for me as well.”
‘Full Swing’ tracks a difficult year for McIlroy in which his personal life took centre stage.
The world no.3 filed for divorce, then announced he and his wife Erica Stoll changed their minds and decided to stay together.
And during such personal hardship, McIlroy developed a newfound appreciation for his friendship with Lowry.
He said: “The Tour can feel like a lonely place at times, so to have a friend like Shane who is always up for a laugh and doing fun things, this year more than any other year, it’s really shown its importance to me.”
McIlroy added: “We live very close to each other and I’d say the weeks that we’re home we probably see each other five times a week.
“It’s nice to have someone like that, who you can pick the phone up to about anything, whether it’s golf or stuff away from golf.
“Sometimes I’ve struggled with the balance of being the best golfer, the best husband, the best dad.
“Sometimes I get overwhelmed and it can get a bit much for me.
“I see how Shane does it with a lot of ease. Sometimes you have to focus on one or the other.
“He’s really good at that and I see him as a good role model for me.
“I can learn a lot from him and how he handles everything in his life.”