Shane Lowry kept tabs on Rory McIlroy while the latter was in pursuit of completing a career Grand Slam at the Masters.

Sure, Lowry was rooting for his good friend to become the sixth golfer to accomplish the feat, but he also had another thought in mind. After all, would McIlroy still be interested in defending the pair’s title this weekend at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans?

Lowry, in fact, told reporters on Wednesday that he confided to his caddie Darren Reynolds that the golfers would be lucky to play in Louisiana.

“If things didn’t go his way (at the final round of the Masters), 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,” the 38-year-old Irishman said at the joint press conference. “But I’m happy he’s here.”

Apparently, so is McIlroy.

“We’re defending a title. We had so much fun last year here,” the 35-year-old Northern Irishman said. “Obviously it’s important for me to honor that commitment.”

McIlroy has enjoyed the good life after winning the Masters. He revealed that President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama — among many other notable people — reached out to him after he won his fifth major and first since 2014.

“I spoke to two presidents the day after, which was pretty cool,” McIlroy said. “Just people reaching out from all walks of life, whether it be sports, entertainment, culture. Just all of it.

“People that you would never even think that would watch golf or would know what’s going on, that was very, very humbling, I guess.”

McIlroy enters with three victories already this year while Lowry has a trio of top-10s in nine starts.

–Field Level Media