Rory McIlroy confirms first tournament since winning Masters after snubbing £2.7m offer

return to competitive golf following his win will see him tee off alongside good friend and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The duo will return to the event as reigning champions, having beaten Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer to the title last year.

McIlroy captured the hearts and minds of the sporting world at Augusta National when he just about got over the line to clinch his first-ever green jacket and secure the career slam. McIlroy had led for the majority of the final two rounds before a late stumble opened the door to unlikely challenger Justin Rose, with the Englishman managing to force the contest into a playoff decider.

Having missed a putt for the Masters just moments before, McIlroy kept his cool to birdie the playoff hole, with his competitor Rose only managing to make par. Following the dramatic victory, McIlroy opted out of this weekend's RBC Heritage in South Carolina, .

McIlroy's mini-break is expected to come to an end at the end of the month when he returns to action alongside Lowry for the team event in New Orleans. The five-time major winner's return was confirmed by Lowry, who spoke at the RBC Heritage event this week.

When asked whether the duo will be back to defend their title, Lowry replied: "We'll be there. I talked to him [Wednesday] morning. We're good to go. To be honest, I didn't want him to feel like he had to play because of me. He's not letting me down if he wanted to take some time. He feels like he wants to get back out there. He feels like next week is a good week to do it. So, yeah, we'll be there."

McIlroy had returned to the Emerald Isle this week to spend time with family and soak in his Masters win. He'll be on his way back to the States for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which gets underway on 24 April.

The format sees two players join forces to make a team, with both four-ball and foursomes played. Rounds one and three will be played in the four-ball format, whereas rounds two and four will use the foursome format instead.