As Rory McIlroy returns to action following his Masters triumph, he explained the tactics he and Shane Lowry would employ during foursomes action at the Zurich Classic.
The alternate shot format of the game has always been seen as the toughest, and it also has the added unique problem of a pairing that uses different golf balls having to decide which one to play with.
Gone are the days when teams have to use the same ball for the entire round in foursomes, as a different ball can be used for each hole - but there are still some tactics to be carefully worked out.
McIlroy and Lowry worked it out perfectly last year as they won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans trophy - and the new Masters champion explained their thinking ahead of their title defence.
"I’d say we’ll probably just do the same thing as we did last year," said McIlroy. "If Shane is hitting the approach into the green, I’ll probably hit his golf ball off the tee, and then vice versa, he’ll hit my golf ball off the tee if I’m hitting the approach."
McIlroy made a big golf ball switch just before his victory at Pebble Beach this year - moving to the TaylorMade TP5 from the 2024 version of the TP5x in a move that helped him eventually win The Masters.
Lowry plays the Srixon Z-Star XV, and the two have had a testing session at home in Florida before heading out to New Orleans for the Zurich Classic.
Lowry says that hitting driver with each other's golf ball is no real issue, so the aim is to have their own ball for when hitting approach shots into the green.
"We did some testing yesterday morning back home when we delayed our trip," said Lowry.
"I went down to the range, and we both practice at the same place so both our golf balls are there, and we did some testing and they’re pretty similar.
"We could either use either-or’s, but it’s foursomes - like we played a lot of foursomes growing up, obviously Ryder Cups and stuff, so you kind of figure out how to do it.
"You drive each other’s golf ball and then - because driving is not the issue. Especially when it gets windier, the wind is swirling, you want to have control of your ball.
"I think we figured it out last year, and we’ll do it this year."
