Analysis: McIlroy had a blast in New Orleans. It was just what he needed

Winning the Ryder Cup might have been more valuable than Rory McIlroy realized.

McIlroy already was emotionally and physically spent from Europe beating the Americans in Rome for a seventh straight time on home soil — and from the celebration into the next morning before flying home with Shane Lowry and their wives.

Turns out the party wasn't over just yet.

McIlroy sent Lowry a text the following day inviting him over to lunch. That turned into dinner, with a couple of bottles of wine in between, and visits from a few South Florida neighbors in Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and Michael Jordan.

McIlroy called it a “ drunken lunch.” Somewhere along the way, whether it was the wine or the aftermath of Ryder Cup euphoria, he asked Lowry if he wanted to play in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA Tour's only official team event.

Equally surprising, McIlroy remembered.

“He sent me a text around Christmastime,” Lowry said, “and it was a nice little Christmas present for me to get.”

As far as team events go, the Ryder Cup and New Orleans are nothing alike except for one important element.

Fun.

And that's exactly what McIlroy needed.

“The reason that Shane and I both started to play golf is because we thought it was fun at some stage in our life,” McIlroy said after their playoff victory at the TPC Louisiana. “Reinjecting a little bit of that fun back into it in a week like this ... can always help.”

Winning never hurts, though that isn't everything.

McIlroy has won six times — five on the PGA Tour, including another FedEx Cup title — since the Saudi-funded LIV Golf circuit launched in June 2022. A tournament rarely passed the last two years without McIlroy speaking on golf's most divisive topic, whether he was whipping LIV with a switch or turning around and using it to extend an olive branch.

The softened stance toward LIV for the sake of unification has put him at odds with some of his PGA Tour colleagues like Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth (he used to be tight with two of them).

As for the golf, he won at East Lake for the third time (2022), in Scotland for the first time (2023) and in Dubai for the sixth time (2024).

But with McIlroy, so much is tied to the Masters and the one major keeping him from the career Grand Slam. He was out of it by the weekend, and the scrutiny in his game returned stronger than ever.

Never mind that he now has 34 wins around the world since turning pro at age 18 in 2007, or that he has gone only four full years without winning somewhere in the world. Still, it's easy to get bogged down by failure.

McIlroy said long ago when golf is going well, it's hard to remember playing poorly; and when golf is going poorly, good golf can seem miles away.

As for the fun? That's easier to find with a friend.

So imagine if he had not sent that text asking Lowry over to lunch to rekindle the good times from the Ryder Cup.

New Orleans doesn't happen. McIlroy would have rediscovered the fun again — that's part of his personality and what makes him so popular — but it's hard to imagine a celebration when someone (Lowry) lifts him off the ground like a rag doll to celebrate.

And there's no chance McIlroy would have found himself on stage at a post-tournament concert as the crowd chanted his name until he had a microphone in one hand, a beer in the other, and was belting out lyrics to Journey's “Don't Stop Believin.'”

Yeah, that was fun.

And it was good for golf to remember that's what sport should be all about. That it looked so natural should not be surprising. There's a popular phrase in McIlroy's native Northern Ireland directed at those who let their egos get the better of them — “Catch yourself on!”

Li'l Abner's Steakhouse was a popular joint when the Match Play was held in the high desert of Marana, Arizona, a decade ago. Most players paid their bills and were out the door. Not the Irish lads. McIlroy and Lowry about shut the place down, but not before stopping to talk to folks at the bar who recognized them.

It doesn't sound like it was much different in New Orleans. They received a standing ovation at Arnaud's, the historic restaurant in the French Quarter on the eve of the final round. They had the largest and loudest gallery at the TPC Louisiana.

“Every time I get to play in front of thousands of people, the little boy in me just thinks it’s so cool and so exciting,” McIlroy said.

That wasn't anything new. McIlroy became the 12th member of the 25-4 club — 25 wins on the PGA Tour, four majors — so he has played in front of thousands most of his career.

Maybe it's just that he hasn't heard it in a while. Or he got to share it with a teammate.

And by the sound of it, McIlroy can't wait to get back.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, standing, and his teammate Shane Lowry, of Ireland, line up a shot on the 17th green during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Shane Lowry, of Ireland, right, embraces his teammate Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, after winning the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after making birdie on the 16th hole during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Shane Lowry, of Ireland, right, embraces his teammate Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, after winning the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, and teammate Shane Lowry, of Ireland, right hold up their trophy after winning the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Analysis: McIlroy had a blast in New Orleans. It was just what he needed

Shane Lowry, of Ireland, hoists up teammate Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, after they won the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Analysis: McIlroy had a blast in New Orleans. It was just what he needed

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government went on trial on Tuesday, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022.

Nine defendants faced judges at a special warehouse-like courthouse built on the outskirts of Frankfurt to accommodate the large number of defendants, lawyers and media dealing with the case. About 260 witnesses are expected at a trial that the Frankfurt state court expects to extend well into 2025, one of three related trials that in total involve more than two dozen suspects.

The defendants include the highest-profile suspects in the alleged plot, among them Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, whom the group allegedly planned to install as Germany’s provisional new leader; Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a judge and former lawmaker with the far-right Alternative for Germany party; and former German military officers.

Most of them are charged with belonging to a terrorist organization that was founded in July 2021 with the aim of “doing away by force with the existing state order in Germany,” and also with “preparation of high treasonous undertaking.” Reuss and Rüdiger von Pescatore, a former paratrooper, are alleged to have been the group's ringleaders.

Prosecutors have said that the accused believed in a “conglomerate of conspiracy myths,” including Reich Citizans and QAnon ideology, and were convinced that Germany is ruled by a so-called “deep state.” Adherents of the Reich Citizens movement reject Germany’s postwar constitution and have called for bringing down the government, while QAnon is a global conspiracy theory with roots in the United States.

The group planned to storm into the parliament building in Berlin and arrest lawmakers, according to prosecutors. It allegedly intended to negotiate a post-coup order primarily with Russia, as one of the allied victors of World War II.

The plotters allegedly had some 500,000 euros ($543,000) in funding and access to an arsenal including 380 firearms and nearly 350 weapons that could be used for stabbing, as well as equipment such as bulletproof vests and handcuffs. Federal prosecutors say they had drawn up several “lists of enemies” to be used in the takeover of regional and local authorities, and that the group's members were “aware the planned takeover of power would be linked with the killing of people.”

Prosecutors say that Reuss tried to contact Russian officials in 2022 to win Russia’s support for the plan, and it isn’t clear whether Russia responded.

The defendants in Frankfurt include a Russian woman accused of supporting a terrorist organization, in part by allegedly setting up a contact with the Russian consulate in Leipzig and accompanying Reuss there.

The Frankfurt trial, while the most prominent, is the second of three trials focusing on the plot to open. They involve a total of 26 suspects. Originally there were 27, but one man charged in Frankfurt died before the trial.

A trial of nine people in Stuttgart that began at the end of April is focusing on the so-called “military arm” of the plot, which prosecutors say was tasked with implementing the plans drawn up by the alleged leaders.

A third trial, opening in Munich on June 18, will feature the other eight suspects.

The alleged coup plot came to light with a slew of arrests in December 2022. But officials had long warned that far-right extremists pose the biggest threat to Germany’s domestic security.

That threat was highlighted by the killing of a regional politician and an attempted attack on a synagogue in 2019. A year later, far-right extremists taking part in a protest against pandemic restrictions tried and failed to enter the parliament building in Berlin.

In a separate case, five people went on trial in Koblenz a year ago over an alleged plot by a group calling itself United Patriots — which prosecutors say also is linked to the Reich Citizens milieu — to launch a far-right coup and kidnap Germany’s health minister.

In January, a report that extremists met to discuss the deportation of millions of immigrants, including some with German citizenship, triggered mass protests against the rise of the far-right.

Some members of Alternative for Germany reportedly attended the meeting. The party, which has enjoyed strong support over the past year, sought to distance itself from the event while also decrying the reporting of it.

Moulson reported from Berlin.

German police officers stand under barbed wire securing a temporary courtroom that was built for a trial starting on Tuesday in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government are among nine suspects going on trial in Frankfurt Tuesday, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

A defendant is being escorted to a temporary courtroom that was built for a trial starting on Tuesday in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government are going on trial in Frankfurt on Tuesday, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

German police officers stand under barbed wire securing a temporary courtroom that was built for a trial starting on Tuesday in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government are among nine suspects going on trial in Frankfurt Tuesday, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The defendant is lead to a temporary court room that was built for a trial starting on Tuesday in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government are going on trial in Frankfurt on Tuesday, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

FILE - Police officers stand by a searched property in Frankfurt during a raid against so-called 'Reich citizens' in Frankfurt, Germany, on Dec. 7, 2022. The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government are among nine suspects going on trial in Frankfurt Tuesday May 21, 2024, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP, File)

FILE - A police officer carries a plastic box during a raid against so-called 'Reich citizens' in Berlin, Germany, on Dec. 7, 2022. The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government are among nine suspects going on trial in Frankfurt Tuesday May 21, 2024, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022. (Paul Zinken/dpa via AP, File)

FILE - People hold up their cell phones as they protest the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party, and right-wing extremism in front of the parliament building in Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

FILE - Masked police officers lead Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, right, to a police vehicle during a raid against so-called 'Reich citizens' in Frankfurt, Germany, on Dec. 7, 2022. The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government are among nine suspects going on trial in Frankfurt Tuesday May 21, 2024, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP, File)