Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry prize money as they come up short at Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were unable to make a significant impact during the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday, finishing six shots adrift of champions Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin at TPC Louisiana.

The duo entered the tournament as reigning champions and quickly moved into contention following an impressive 61 on Saturday, leaving them just five shots behind the ultimate victors.

However, they ended up tied for 12th place in the foursomes on Sunday, with three bogeys on the back nine proving detrimental.

Novak narrowly missed out on his first PGA Tour win after being pipped by Justin Thomas in a play-off at the RBC Heritage just a week prior, but he didn't have to wait long for victory, with Griffin also clinching his first-ever PGA triumph.

The tournament marked McIlroy's first appearance since achieving the career grand slam at the US Masters, reports Belfast Live.

Despite a lacklustre Sunday, McIlroy and Lowry finished on a high note, with the former sinking a birdie putt on the 18th hole. McIlroy admitted that they struggled to regain momentum after play was suspended for an hour due to a lightning threat.

"We just didn't really have any momentum from when we started back up again, and it was difficult to just sort of get anything," McIlroy commented.

"We noticed the greens got pretty fast and pretty firm after the delay, too, so got a little tougher.

"It was nice to come and try and defend," Lowry added.

"I think we did a good job for the most part. I think we played all right, just today nothing really happened for us, and then after the delay we just went – everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

"I had a great week. I'm happy my man came here this week, and we had a great time, and it was fun."

McIlroy said: "It's always good to team up with this man - We've had fun."

Following their blazing win in The Big Easy, duo Novak and Griffin pocketed a cool $1.3 million each, while Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry took home $69,092 each for their efforts.

McIlry's next appearance will be at the Truist Championship in Philadelphia in two weeks' time, with the PGA Championship looming at Quail Hollow following hot on its heels.

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