Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, suffered a very embarrassing moment on Friday during his second round at this year’s Open Championship. As a result, officials slapped him with a two-stroke penalty. In one video clip, his ball was seen moving a few inches as he made a practice swing while standing in the thick rough on the 12th hole. This caused him to be assessed a penalty.
First on the scene, Lowry was shocked by what he encountered. Until a Sprint Cup rules official stopped him on his stroll up the 15th fairway, that is. The official informed him about the possibility that his ball had shifted during his second shot on the 12th.
It’s like having a full practice swing off line, I told myself, yet managing to make contact at the last second. Lowry remarked. He continued to clarify his position on what happened that day, explaining that, “My head was definitely looking down at the ball and I didn’t see it moving.”
That two-shot penalty was particularly harsh on Lowry, as it changed his score from a 1-under par 69 to a 1-over par 71 for the round. This modification improved him to even par for the championship, squeaking making the cut by one stroke. The penalty has paid a heavy toll on him. Now, he goes into the weekend ten shots behind tournament leader Scottie Scheffler instead of only eight.
Even after shooting par on the hole before the penalty was assessed, Lowry sounded upset about the whole incident. “It’s obviously very disappointing,” he said. Well, I’m just going to have to lump it — it’s a tough break — and go forward.
Lowry had to admit that he didn’t want to fight the decision. “The last thing I want to do is sit there and argue and not take the penalty and then get slaughtered all over social media tonight for being a cheat,” he added.
Reflecting on his performance, Lowry noted, “I felt like I played really, really well today.” He conveyed that in the wake of the incident, he was not sure where he stood in the tournament. “Obviously then I feel like I’m on the cut mark then, which is not very nice,” he stated.
In particular, other challengers weighed in with their honest opinions on Lowry’s penalty. Scottie Scheffler commented on the situation, saying, “I’m not going to state a strong opinion here in the media on whether or not I thought he deserved the penalty, but all I’m going to say is it was a very tough situation for him to be put in, and I thought he handled it really well.”
Lowry’s main focus was on how few camera angles we ever got to see. “I had to take it … I wasn’t arguing my case, but I’m disappointed that they don’t have more camera angles on it,” he explained. He emphasized that if he had seen the ball move, he would have called it on himself: “If the ball moved, I would have called it on myself.”
He hopes to reclaim his lost momentum and improve his position. With his experience as a former champion, he’s intent on continuing to play his best golf in the wake of that hard test.
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