The Irish ace insists he would never cheat and would have accepted his fate
21:40, 18 Jul 2025Updated 22:40, 18 Jul 2025
(Image: Getty Images)
Sickened Shane Lowry fumed after a rules penalty and insisted he’d never cheat.
The Irish star was fuming after being hit by a two-shot setback for a moving ball.
Lowry’s incident came on the 12th hole of his second round when, as he lined up for a practice swing, his ball was adjudged to have moved.
He was informed of the potential rules-infringement, which came from TV slow-motion footage, on the 15th hole and was fuming when the penalty was confirmed after his round.
The 2019 Open champion had no idea it happened and was clear he was not going to debate the issue and have name muddied.
Lowry said: “I think they had it in their heads the ball moved, I caused it to move, it’s a two-shot penalty.
“They only had one camera angle which was zoomed in at the ball. They had none of me actually full length, which we were looking for and needed.
“If the ball moved and I caused it to move and it moved, it’s a two-shot penalty. 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 for being a cheat.
“If the ball moved, I would have called it on myself. My head was definitely looking down at the ball and I didn’t see it moving.
“It was like far from the ball. Apparently a blade of grass I hit and the ball moved. A dimple or something.
“I’m going to have to sit back and kind of think about this now before I go to bed tonight.
“I didn’t know anything happened until walking up the 15th fairway and then the rules official came over and told me that there was a possibility the ball moved on the 12th for my second shot.
Shane Lowry puts at The Open(Image: Getty Images)
“I’ve asked him: How many shot penalty is that if it did? And he said, two.
“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. 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.
“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 get on with it.
“I went from feeling like if I can make two or three birdies on the way in, which I felt like 15 and 17 were good chances, that I can push up that leaderboard.
“And then all of a sudden, I’m playing 16, 17, 18 feeling like I’m on the cut mark, even though I was very happy to birdie 15. That was a big birdie for me after what happened. I’m just going to have to take it. It’s a bad break. And move on.
“That’s hard to take. It’s a disappointing thing to happen to me, but that’s golf. Onwards and upwards and give it a run this weekend.”