Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry's money rift, Irishman's awe for Erica Stoll, £7.1m decision

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry's money rift, Irishman's awe for Erica Stoll, £7.1m decisionRory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will have to put their friendship to the side for the final round of the Masters, but the two Irish golf stars have a long history with each otherCommentsSportPatrick Austen-Hardy Senior Sports Journalist18:26, 12 Apr 2026Updated 18:26, 12 Apr 2026View 3 ImagesBest pals Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy are going head to head at the Masters(Image: Andrew Redington, Getty Images)Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will go from best friends to golf rivals at the Masters this evening. At Augusta, both have a great opportunity to win the Green Jacket.‌McIlroy's historic six-stroke lead may have disappeared in round three, but he is still the joint leader with Cameron Young. Meanwhile, Lowry is only two strokes behind the pair and, having scored a remarkable hole-in-one last night, will be feeling optimistic about his chances.‌Away from the course, they are extremely close friends who will most likely share a bottle of wine or two when the major is over. However, things have not always been smooth between the pair.‌READ MORE: Masters star given official warning by Augusta National after smashing club in meltdownREAD MORE: Scottie Scheffler's 'childish' financial agreement with caddie amid £3.3m Masters battleMcIlroy and Lowry's money riftIn 2013, McIlroy and Lowry's friendship hit the rocks after the former chose to walk away from the agency they were both a part of. In an interview in 2022, McIlroy said to the Irish Independent: "I would say very close early on, not-so-close in the middle, and closer than ever now. We were being managed by the same person [Conor Ridge], in the same agency [Horizon Sports]. Then I had a fall-out with Horizon in 2013, it got a bit messy for a couple of years, not because one of us had done wrong to the other, but because of the circumstances."They mended their friendship by discussing...