Shane Lowry said he feared a social media backlash if he did not accept a two-stroke penalty at the Open Championship on Friday.
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The Irishman was handed the sanction after he finished his second round, which left him at level par for the tournament, for his ball apparently moving as he made a practice swing on the 12th hole.
Rules officials relied on television evidence from one angle that zoomed in on the ball, even if Lowry could not see it with the naked eye.
Lowry seems like he doesn't agree that the ball moved. Said he wishes there were more cameras on it but accepted the penalty because he didn't want to be called a cheat.
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) July 18, 2025
Scottie added that Shane was "put in a tough situation, but handled it very well."
It seems like the… pic.twitter.com/Q7zJx2Lj2o
"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," said Lowry, who is back at the scene of his sole major win at Royal Portrush back in 2019.
"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."
Shane Lowry is clearly absolutely devastated about the 2 shot penalty for his ball moving. He also doesn’t think it was correct. Should he really have been penalised? This is worth a listen:
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) July 18, 2025
pic.twitter.com/gSGnGEK1Ca
The footage had been highlighted on social media before Lowry was handed the penalty.
"If the ball moved and I caused it to move and it moved, it's a two-shot penalty," added the world number 18.
"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 was playing alongside world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, who shot to the top of the leaderboard with a brilliant 64 to sit at 10 under par after the opening two days.
Scheffler hailed Lowry's reaction after the American was also left unconvinced by the television replay.
"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," said the three-time major champion.
"It was a very tough spot for Shane to be put in. 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."