As Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry made plans on Saturday for Lowry and his family to call over for the birthday of McIlroy's daughter Poppy, the Offaly man quipped that they'd be celebrating with the Tour Championship trophy.
"I had a conversation with Shane Lowry yesterday, and it's Poppy's birthday on Wednesday and his kids are going to come around our house for Poppy's birthday," McIlroy said during a press conference on Sunday after he won the Tour Championship for a record third time.
"He said, 'I'll see you next week and we can celebrate with the FedExCup'. I was like, 'Yeah, whatever'. I was eight back at the time. I was like, 'Yeah, I'll just see you next week'.
"Lo and behold, we might find a few really nice bottles of red wine tomorrow night in my wine cellar and open them up and have a good time."
A reporter responded that "Shane knows how to celebrate". "He does," said McIlroy. "He'll lead me in the right direction."
Remarkably, McIlroy came back from six shots down at the start of the final round at East Lake to topple leader, and world number one, Scottie Scheffler, and claim the $18 million on offer to the winner.
Rory McIlroy 2022 Tour Championship victory press conference
Prior to heading out on the final round, McIlroy, Scheffler, and Colin Morikawa had lunch together.
"We talked about the restaurants in Dubai," explained McIlroy.
"Collin Morikawa and I were talking sort of about our schedules going forward, and Scottie sat down, and we were just talking about Dubai at the end of the year and sort of just trying to describe the place to Scottie in a way. I'm trying to think what else we talked about.
"I don't know, I mean, anything but the golf and the money. I mean, we were just sitting there having a conversation. We've seen a lot of each other this week. The physios we use are set up in the same room in the clubhouse, so we see each other getting treatment and all sorts of stuff.
"But yeah, that's one of the cool things about the game. You can sit down with a competitor before you go out to play and have a bite to eat and have a chat, and it's fine. It's actually quite refreshing."
Yaaas ☘️ What time is the party @McIlroyRory? 🍻🍻🍻🍻 https://t.co/X4JAHsfnWu
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) August 28, 2022
Both McIlroy and Scheffler both bogeyed the opening hole of the final round. It was at that point McIlroy thought he might have a chance of catching the American.
"Probably the three-putt on 1," said McIlroy.
"He left the first putt six feet short, and then he missed the one... Yeah, I'd say that the putt on 1, and then he hit a tee shot on 4 that just didn't seem like a Scottie Scheffler drive. I guess those two sort of made me think that I probably had a chance after that."
Sunday's victory is the 12th time that McIlroy has won on the PGA Tour while trailing going into the final round.
"Because I think out of anyone in the field, I care the least about the money. That's probably it," responded McIlroy when asked why he thrives as a chaser.
.@McIlroyRory starts the week off with a triple bogey, and never gave up, now he’s the @playofffinale Champion. Heck of a year for Scottie too, great way to close out the season!
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) August 28, 2022
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