Shane Lowry defends Rory McIlroy against 'armchair golfers who don't know how hard it is'

Shane Lowry has leaped to the defence of Rory McIlroy against 'armchair golfers who don't know how hard it is' following the Holywood golfer's PGA Championship. The Offaly sportsman was talking after McIlroy took eighth place in the major tournament this weekend.

Lowry told the media: "The armchair golfers don't realise how hard it is out here. It's not as easy as shooting 65 in the first round.

"I saw a quote from him from last week. I don't know when it was from, on how he hasn't won a major since 2014 but he has pretty much done everything else you have to do in the world of golf," reports the Irish Mirror.

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He went on: "So it's not like he's in a slump. It's almost like you're a victim of your own success. People expected him to win 10 majors when he won those four and it just hasn't worked out like that. But he's only 33 now and he still got a long way to go in his career."

McIlroy's tournament at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, started strong as he led after round one having shot 65. But his game started to unravel on Friday and in particular Saturday when he shot two double bogeys on the fifth and the 11th.

McIlroy, Lowry and Seamus Power - who finished T9th at Southern Hills - will lay their next major at the US Open in Brookline which starts on June 16. Lowry also mentioned his own game, and said he felt he could have done better.

"Like I said to Bo (his caddie) going down the last, I feel like I'm two or three shots away from having a good week. But I'm disappointed because I feel like I could've done better this week.

"It is still another decent performance, there's no real bad things to take