Shane Lowry snapped at Rory McIlroy question and urged for new PGA rule

Shane Lowry has urged the to change their rules on media interviews just weeks after refusing to answer a question about . The pair are good friends, having known each other since they were juniors playing in Ireland. They have also teamed up at pairs tournaments, winning last year's Zurich Classic together.

Lowry is usually happy to speak about McIlroy during interviews . He was coming off the course after a difficult third round, which saw him bogey the final two holes. McIlroy, meanwhile, was flying and moved into the outright lead with a brilliant score of 66.

When asked if he found himself looking back at how well McIlroy was doing, Lowry replied: "I'm not going to stand here and talk about Rory for 10 minutes. I'm trying to win the tournament as well.

"I know that's what you all want me to talk about, but I've just had a s*** finish. I've got a chance to win the Masters and I'm going to go hit some balls."

Lowry has since urged the PGA Tour to give players more time to cool down before facing the media, rather than having a microphone thrust into their face just moments after stepping off the final green.

Explaining his angry reaction at Augusta National, he told the "No, like, obviously, I'm good friends with Rory, so I have to talk about him a lot anyway. I just thought the timing of it... I just bogeyed the last two.

"I thought it was a bit, yeah, you know what I mean? I think a lot of players, a lot of even certain media members have said to me that I said the right thing. I do think there's a period we should get for when we finish.

"80 to 90 per cent of the time we're fine, but like that 10 per cent that you kind of need a little bit of time to cool off or get your thoughts, right? I think the media will get a better view of what's going on if the players had a little bit more time to think about it."

Lowry pointed to Bryson DeChambeau's comments after the Masters final round as an example of why breaks are needed. The big-hitting American claimed that McIlroy, his playing partner, refused to speak to him for the entirety of their round.

"Even that, like the answer he gave there, he might give a different answer 30 minutes later," said Lowry. "You know what I mean? So like, I thought that was probably taken out of context.

"Bryson was obviously annoyed at himself because he didn't play great that day, but if you would have got Bryson 30 minutes later, I think he probably would give you a different answer."