Rory McIlroy — his voice raspy from a cold that made it tough for him to get out of bed a couple of days earlier — expressed relief that he'd have a teammate to lean on in his first PGA Tour event since his historic triumph at the Masters two weekends ago.

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,