“If things didn’t go his way, I don’t think he’d want to be here, and I thought if things did go his way, he’d want to be somewhere else.” As Rory McIlroy’s Irish partner Shane Lowry saw the freshly minted career grand slam achiever make a double on the 13th in Augusta, he knew the next few holes could make a difference to their Zurich Classic outing. But just 10 days after the Rory’s historic Masters win, where the entire world saw the weight of 14 years lift off the Northern Irishman’s shoulders as he dropped to his knees and let out a scream, the competitor in him was out again, unlike many champions who would go on a media tour. However, the Zurich Classic was always supposed to be different.

Last year, Rory agreed to playing in the PGA’s only lower pedigree team event to let go a little of another year of missed opportunities. This year, he’s back to relive what he thought “Probably injected a little bit of joy back into golf for me in some way, which I think is really, really important, not to lose that.” Now, however, he is stress-free after the Masters win. Lowry went as far as joking about, “Who cares anymore?” But they did. Still, not everything is going their way as they might have gotten into one sticky situation.

The Zurich Classic’s interesting format sets up an exciting showdown, giving Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry a rough first day. They carded an 8 under par in the foursomes, finishing at T28. Speaking to the press after a not-so-good first round of the $9.2M event, McIlroy candidly opined, “It’s just playing golf. If anything, a little more relaxed knowing that I have a partner that if I do hit a bad shot that more times than not can bail me out.”

Lowry quickly cut him, “Apart from the 6th.” And Rory repeated, “Well, apart from the 6th.”

McIlroy has had a different kind of outing in Louisiana this time. Lowry did all the heavy lifting in the first nine, with 5 birdies and 7 holes being carded with his score. At the same time, McIlroy found it difficult to hit a birdie throughout the day, only carding 2 birdies in total. He did need the bailing out in the front nine.

However, the Northern Irish golfer did have his moment. On the 2nd hole (11th hole for them on the day), McIlroy registered a brilliant eagle that reminded everyone of just how clinical he can be. This came right after a birdie on the first. But there were also moments when the pair looked like they were out of their depth.

The sixth proved to be a particularly tricky one for the duo on the first day of proceedings. Both Lowry and McIlroy had to take penalties after both their shots fell in the creek. An unfortunate incident that eventually led to an uncharacteristic bogey for the duo, their only one of the day.

They have an uphill battle to climb in the coming days and are right now six strokes off first place.

Update: Entering Friday, the Irish duo made a difference and totaled for 3 under par playing the foursome. Their card read an eagle, five birdies and four bogeys for a 3-under 69 to move them up 16 places on the leaderboard. They enter the weekend with a T16 position and 11 under par.

But having been here and won before, the Irish pair knows that it is very much possible.

The Irish duo’s approach for the rest of the tournament

The format of the Zurich Classic allows for significant movement across the four days. The first day, which was foursomes, where the best score of the two gets carded, is a good way to get low scores. The second day is alternate, where each golfer of the team takes a shot in order, with one teeing off and the other taking the next shot, and so on.

The second format is where having good knowledge about one’s partner’s strengths and weaknesses pays dividends. The formats then repeat for the last two days. Lowry knows that the lead is not insurmountable and the low scores that happen on day one are not a surprise. “You always know in four-balls, especially early Thursday morning, the golf course is probably going to play at its easiest. You’ve got to get out there and shoot a score.” The Irish golfer stated.

There is still one more day of foursomes left, day 3, where they can go for very low scores and keep the pressure on the rest of the field. The advantage they have? They have won this tournament before. “It was one of those days where you do want to go low, but like Rory mentioned over there, I think the two foursome days in this tournament are huge. That’s what separates the field. Hopefully we can go out tomorrow and shoot a good score and work from there to the week,” Lowry added.

Do you think McIlroy and Lowry can improve on their performance and defend their title at New Orleans?