Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry have surprised many by deciding to team up at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

It is undoubtedly the most high-profile pairing at the PGA Tour event, which is taking place at TPC Louisiana.

Koepka is a five-time major champion, while Lowry boasts one major win and won the Zurich Classic with Rory McIlroy in 2024.

Lowry and McIlroy share a very close bond, with Koepka now explaining his relationship with the Irishman ahead of their partnership on the course.

Koepka told the media of their personal dynamic: “We’ve been friends for years.

“We see each other… I think a lot of people forget that we all live probably within 15 minutes of each other in Jupiter, and everybody plays the same golf courses, so we see each other pretty much every other day.

“I mean, I don’t go a day without seeing a guy out here, so there’s always conversations. “There’s always people talking, having lunch, doing whatever, practicing together.

“It happens way more frequently than I think people realize.”

Getting along on the course will be key to success this week, as Lowry and McIlroy proved at the 2024 Zurich Classic.

But the players must also impress on an individual level, with Koepka in very high spirits about one key part of his game.

When asked how his putting has improved since the beginning of the year, he said: “Yeah, it’s gotten a lot better.

“I’ve got a tremendous understanding of where I’m at.

“You’re not going to see just immediately all of a sudden I feel like I’m Jordan Spieth in 2018 when he holed everything.

“Obviously number one, the putter, the coach, the mechanics of it all, there’s five different things going on, but I feel like I’ve got a good grasp of it, good control of it, and I’m not seeing… the dispersion has gotten a whole lot tighter.”

The American enters the PGA Tour event on the back of a T12 finish at The Masters, with his playing partner having finished T30 before a T42 finish at last week’s RBC Heritage.

Koepka and Lowry start out alongside brothers Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick, with the field also including defending champions Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak.

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