Lowry was given a two-shot penalty for the incident
Shane Lowry ended his second round at The Open with all smiles, coming off the 18th two-under for the tournament so far, but his mood quickly changed.
The 2019 Open champion had been told at the 15th hole that he was investigation by an R&A rules official following a practice swing on the par-five 12th, which seemingly caused his ball to move.
The Irishman was subsequently given a two-shot penalty, leaving him level par for the tournament, and a seemingly unassailable 10 shots off leader Scottie Scheffler.
There was confusion on TV coverage and on social media as to whether the ball had actually moved, and Lowry himself insisted he hadn’t seen it move, but a new, closer angle seems decisive.
Lowry said: “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.
“I’ve asked him ‘how many shot penalty is that if it did [move]?’, and he said ‘two’. Obviously then I feel like I’m on the cut mark then, which is not very nice. I feel like I played well on the way in and then obviously waited to see.
“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, 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.
“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.”
In a statement, the R&A said: “During Round Two, Shane Lowry’s ball was seen to have moved while he was taking a practice swing for his second shot from the rough at the 12th hole.
“The Rules require three things to be assessed in such situations: 1. Did the ball leave its original position and come to rest on another spot? 2. Was the ball’s movement to another spot discernible to the naked eye? and 3. If the ball did come to rest on another spot and the movement was discernible to the naked eye, is it known or virtually certain that the player’s actions caused the ball to move?”
