[PHOTO: Ramsey Cardy]
Shane Lowry was assessed a two-shot penalty when his ball moved after a practice swing during the second round at the Open Championship.
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Lowry, who captured the claret jug at Royal Portrush in 2019, was even-par for the day and one-under for the championship when he reached the par-5 12th hole. Cameras just happened to have a close-up view of Lowry’s ball in the rough as he took a practice swing, and the ball visibly moved after his iron passed through the nearby grass.
R&A officials met with Lowry and playing partners Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa after the round, ultimately deciding that Lowry’s ball movement merited a penalty.
Sure looks like Shane Lowry's ball moved on the practice swing here pic.twitter.com/qXkc8e1sTJ
— Fried Egg Golf (@fried_egg_golf) July 18, 2025
Lowry was told on the 15th hole that the R&A was reviewing the shot.
“I didn’t know anything happened until the 15th. He told me it was a two-shot penalty, so I feel like I’m on the cut line then. I’m disappointed they don’t have more camera angles on it,” Lowry said afterwards. “They say if you don’t see it move, it didn’t move. I didn’t see it but I had to take a penalty because I can’t have my name tossed around like that.
“It’s obviously very disappointing. It’s hard to take but I have to dust myself off and get out there tomorrow. I’m not going to get called a cheat and have my name around social media. I’ve signed for a 72 now. I’m going to have to think about this before I go to bed tonight.”
Shane Lowry's full post-round comments with the media after receiving a two-stroke penalty. 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Ln4Easpfyv
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) July 18, 2025
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As for being told about the potential penalty on the 15th, Lowry said, “You want to know if you’re going to be on the cut.”
Scheffler commended how Lowry handled the situation. “Ultimately in golf it’s up to the player, and I felt like Shane was put in a pretty tough situation there when they were zooming in on his golf ball. In the rough it’s hard to tell.
“He handled it really well. It’s obviously very frustrating. It’s frustrating for me as a competitor of his and a player to watch him after kind of deal with that because the last thing you want to be known in the game of golf is somebody who cheats. 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 two-shot penalty moved him from a 70 to 72, which was still good enough to make the weekend. “I played great on the way in, hit some nice shots,” Lowry said. “Left it on the lip on 16 and 18, missed a good chance on 17, so it could have been different.
“But yeah, look, it’s a disappointing thing to happen to me, but that’s golf. Onwards and upwards and give it a run this weekend.”
It ended an eventual day for Lowry, which also featured a hot-mic incident.
Last month Lowry was assessed a penalty during the second round of the US Open for accidentally picking up his ball without marking it.
