Shane Lowry, who teamed with Rory McIlroy to win the 2024 Zurich Classic, will pair with five-time major winner Brooks Koepka in this year’s event, announced Steve Worthy, CEO of the Fore!Kids Foundation, producer of the tournament.
“This should be a most powerful team,” said Worthy. “Both of these players have won major titles, and both have extensive experience in major international team competitions,” Worthy added.
Lowry has played for Europe on the last three Ryder Cup teams and in 2025, he sank the putt that clinched the Ryder Cup for the European team.
In 2024 Lowry enjoyed one of his best years on the PGA Tour. In addition to his Zurich Classic victory, he posted six top-10 finishes, including a solo sixth in the PGA Championship and a tie for sixth in The Open Championship. He also posted three top-10 finishes on the DP World Tour that year, including a tie for third in the DP World Championship.
He scored 12 top-25 finishes in 2025, including a tie for 12th defending his team title in the Zurich Classic last season.
Most recently, Lowry came agonizingly close to his fourth PGA Tour victory in this year’s Cognizant Classic, finishing tied for second after leading the tournament with three holes to play. Additionally, he has played well this season with a tie for eighth in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he finished second in 2025.
Currently ranked 32nd in the world, he won The Open Championship in 2019 at Royal Portrush in his native Ireland, firing a course-record 63 in the third round to win by six shots over Tommy Fleetwood. He has won seven other titles, four on the DP World Tour and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2015 that earned him his PGA Tour card.
In addition to his title in The Open Championship, Lowry has posted a tie for third in the Masters, a tie for fourth in the PGA Championship and a tie for second in the 2016 U.S. Open, where he also finished ninth the following year.
While still an amateur, he won the Irish Open in 2009 on the third hole of a sudden death playoff. He became only the third amateur to win a European Tour event. Lowry shot a 62 in that tournament to equal the lowest score ever by an amateur on the European Tour and led from the second round onwards. He turned professional the next week, foregoing his opportunity to play in the 2009 Walker Cup.
He also made the World Cup team three times and played for Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy in 2008. He represented Ireland in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games and had the honor of being the flag-bearer for his country in 2024.
Brooks Kopeka has won the PGA Championship three times and the U.S. Open twice among his nine PGA Tour titles.
He ranked number one in the world for 47 weeks from October 2018 to February 2020.
He played on four U.S. Ryder Cup teams and one Presidents Cup squad. In 15 Ryder Cup matches, he has posted a record of 7-6-2, ranking 18th on the all-time American points list.
In addition to his PGA Tour titles, he has won seven times internationally, including consecutive Dunlop Phoenix championships in 2017-18.
His game is rounding into form as he returns to the PGA Tour after an absence of four years. He tied for ninth in the Cognizant Classic, tied for 13th in The Players Championship and tied for 18th in the Valspar Championship, after reaching fifth during the third round of play.
Teamed with his brother Chase, he tied for fifth in the 2017 Zurich Classic, the first year the tournament adopted the team format, unique on the PGA Tour.
In college, he played four seasons for Florida State University, where he broke the school record for career scoring average previously held by 19-time PGA TOUR winner Hubert Green from 1965-68. Koepka was a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and was named 2009 ACC Freshman of the Year. He went on to earn third team All-American in 2010 and second team All-American in 2012. He was inducted into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022.
READ MORE:2024 Zurich Classic champ Shane Lowry to pair with 5-time major winner Brooks Koepka in 2026 event
