After pursuing a new Ryder Cup partner, Rory McIlroy moves on from Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter.

At Marco Simone, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia, two of Rory McIlroy’s previous Ryder Cup partners, will not be present, so McIlroy has his sights set on a new European teammate.

Having stated who he would like to partner with at this year’s Ryder Cup, Rory McIlroy is already adjusting to life without Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter in Europe’s team.

Following his victory at the top of the European Points List last month, McIlroy was awarded a spot on Team Europe for the seventh consecutive Ryder Cup.
There has been a change of leadership in the locker room, and the Northern Irishman will represent his team as its most accomplished player in Italy.
In Luke Donald’s 12-man team, three of Europe’s most seasoned players—Garcia, Poulter, and Lee Westwood—will not be available when they face off against their American rivals later this.

After serving as constants in the European lineup for more than 20 years, Garcia and his teammates established themselves as Ryder Cup mainstays.
They joined other LIV Golf players in terminating their memberships on the DP World Tour earlier this year, so for the time being, they are no longer associated with matchplay events.

For Team Europe and McIlroy personally, the loss of Garcia and Poulter in particular will be a big loss.
Throughout his Ryder Cup career, the four-time major champion had shared the course with the LIV Golf team a number of times, twice at Whistling Straits with Poulter.

This time, however, McIlroy will need to look elsewhere for a foursomes and fourball partner.
However, it seems like he has already found one in Shane Lowry.
When asked by Golf Digest if he would be interested in teaming up with the Irishman in Rome, McIlroy responded, “Absolutely yeah.
Poults and Sergio were passionate and full of energy; having someone like that beside you meant you could always count on them to take action when the time was right.
With Shane, I most certainly experience that.
“.

McIlroy and Lowry are familiar with one another due to their participation in the Friday afternoon fourballs at Whistling Straits two years prior.
However, things did not go as expected because Tony Finau and Harris English 4and3 dismantled the pair.

The two also teamed up to represent Ireland at the Tokyo Olympics in the same year, with McIlroy placing in a tie for fourth and Lowry in a tie for 22nd.
The Olympic teammates are also close friends off the playing field; Lowry admitted back in 2022 that the two have become “closer than ever” in recent years.