Shane Lowry’s hopes of winning his second Open Championship took a big hit on Friday after he was handed a two-shot penalty during his second round at Royal Portrush. The penalty came after a review showed his ball had moved during a practice swing on the 12th hole, but Lowry insisted he didn’t notice at the time.
Penalty Call Hard For Lowry To Take
The 2019 Open champion had put in impressive performances and was well in contention before the incident. Lowry was in the thick rough and took a practice swing on the par-5 12th hole. Video replay later showed the ball moved slightly during that swing, which is against the rules if it happens before making a stroke.
Officials noticed a possible rules breach and informed Lowry while he was still playing. They told him on the 15th hole that there might be an issue. After finishing his round, which he initially thought was a 70, officials brought him into the scoring trailer to review the footage. The review took nearly 20 minutes. Only one camera angle was available, and while it wasn’t clear to the naked eye, it did show the ball shifting slightly. Lowry says he didn’t feel or see anything during the swing, however, he accepted the penalty.
“I’m still not sure whether the ball moved or not,” he said. “But I had to take the penalty. I’m still not sure, to be honest, whether it was or not, but I had to take the penalty because I can’t have my name talked about or tossed around like that, and I just had to get on with it. It’s obviously very disappointing. I felt like I played really, really well today. That’s hard to take.”
Lowry Expresses Frustration With Ruling
The penalty changed his par on the 12th hole into a double bogey, turning a 70 into a 72. That dropped him from 2-under to even par for the tournament, leaving him 10 shots behind the leader, Scottie Scheffler. Lowry didn’t mince words when expressing his frustrations at both the ruling and the process that led to it.
“I was in there with the rules official and wasn’t arguing my case but I’m disappointed that they don’t have more camera angles on it,” Lowry said. “The one zoomed in slow motion … they’re trying to tell me if it doesn’t move from the naked eye, if you don’t see it moving, it didn’t move. I told them I definitely was looking down towards the ball as I was taking that practice swing and I didn’t see it move.”
Shane Lowry’s full post-round comments with the media after receiving a two-stroke penalty. 🗣️
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— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) July 18, 2025
This isn’t the first time such a ruling has affected a major. In past tournaments, officials have also penalized other players based on video evidence, even if the players didn’t gain an advantage or notice anything wrong.
Main Photo Credit: © Mike Frey-Imagn Images
