Shane Lowry didn't want to hear it from fans about Rory McIlroy's inconsistency issues following the conclusion of the PGA Championship.
So much so that he fired back at 'armchair golfers' while defending his friend whose yo-yo displays saw him wind up in eight place.
Addressing the media after his final round, he said: "The armchair golfers don't realise how hard it is out here. It's not as easy as shooting 65 in the first round.
"I saw a quote from him from last week. I don't know when it was from, on how he hasn't won a major since 2014 but he has pretty much done everything else you have to do in the world of golf.
"So it's not like he's in a slump. It's almost like you're a victim of your own success.
"People expected him to win 10 majors when he won those four and it just hasn't worked out like that. But he's only 33 now and he still got a long way to go in his career."
While it's admirable that Lowry stuck up for his old pal, it was hard for McIlroy supporters not to get frustrated over another typically flawed showing over the four days.
For once he raced out of the starting blocks to lead after round one having shot 65.
Since he's normally so prone to blowing his chance at the tournament on day one, that really raised hopes that we might finally see him add to his four majors.
But his game unraveled on Friday and in particular Saturday when he shot two double bogeys on the 5th and the 11th.
Looking on the bright side, he has at least put together two quality rounds at both of this year's majors so perhaps he isn't that far away from doing it across a full week.
He, Lowry and Seamus Power (who finished a very creditable T9th at Southern Hills) will next get a chance to mount another major challenge at the US Open in Brookline which starts on June 16th.
While reflecting on his own week, Lowry spoke of how he's also close to really clicking and jumping from posting steady scores to really low ones.
He added: "Like I said to Bo (his caddie) going down the last, I feel like I'm two or three shots away from having a good week. But I'm disappointed because I feel like I could've done better this week.
"It is still another decent performance, there's no real bad things to take away from that. Yes I got up and down a good few times when I needed to but I did miss quite a few chances out there to shoot a decent score.”
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