Shane Lowry accepted 2-shot penalty at The Open to avoid being ‘slaughtered’

It wouldn’t be The Open without a little rules kerfuffle. And this year it’s Shane Lowry in the spotlight…

Shane Lowry has been issued a two-shot penalty at The Open.

The Irishman’s ball appeared to move as he played a practice swing while in the rough on the 12th hole.

The footage was then shared across social media.

R&A rules official Charlie Maran said in the coverage: “We’ll have to find out whether or not it was deemed that Shane actually caused his ball to move.”

When he was on the 15th, an official met Lowry to confirm that the footage was being looked at. Then, after a 20-minute post-round review, it was decided that Lowry would be issued a two-shot penalty.

His 70 became a 72 and he is even-par for the tournament. It dropped him from a tie for 17th to tied-34th.

Lowry told reporters after signing for his adjusted score that he thought the officials had made up their minds before the end of his round.

“I think they had it in their heads [already that] I caused it to move,” he explained. “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.

“They’re trying to tell me [that] 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.”

But the 38-year-old was in no mood to contest the decision – and for good reason.

“I was in there with the rules official and wasn’t arguing my case,” Lowry explained. “It’s obviously very disappointing. I felt like I played really, really well today. And that’s hard to take. Look, I’ll just have to dust myself off and get out there tomorrow and give it a go.

“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,” he explained.

“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.”

Lowry had already been subject to a social media backlash earlier in the day when he was caught on a hot mic shouting “F*** this place!” before slamming his club into the Portrush turf.

Scottie Scheffler, who was playing with Lowry, said the 2019 Champion Golfer was “put in a tough situation, but handled it very well”.

Lowry will tee off in the third round at 11.30am local time alongside Jon Rahm.