Angry Shane Lowry sees British Open solo lead disappear (briefly) over rules controversy

Lowry knew immediately that he was in a world of trouble.

TROON, Scotland – Shane Lowry’s lead during the 152nd British Open took a hit due to a bad shot and a ruling that didn’t go his way on the 11th hole at Royal Troon Golf Club during the second round on Friday. It resulted in a double bogey but Lowry managed birdies on two of his final three holes to card 2-under 69 in breezy conditions and improve to 7-under 135.

Lowry, the 2019 Open champ who opened with 66 and added three birdies and a bogey in his first 10 holes to lead by two, yanked his second shot dead left from 176 yards at the 11th hole into a gorse bush.

“I did the hard part. I hit my drive where you could find it, which is obviously a hard thing to do on that hole. I drew a nice lie in the (right) rough. I got a little bit distracted on the right just as I was over the shot, and I kind of lost a bit of train of thought. You’re so afraid of going right there that I just snagged the club and went left,” he said.

According to the radio broadcast, Lowry blamed a photographer for distracting him. A hot mic caught him erupting at the photographer.

Lowry knew immediately that he was in a world of trouble and hit a great provisional to about 10 feet. It looked like he might escape without too much pain.

“The referee asked me going down, did I want to find my first one, and I said no. So I assumed that was OK. Then we get down there, and somebody had found it. So apparently we have to find it then, or you have to go and identify it, which I thought, if you declared it lost before it was found, that you didn’t, you didn’t have to go and identify it,” Lowry said.

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However, a spectator found Lowry’s ball in the gorse bush, which meant that Lowry had no choice but to play his original ball. Lowry argued with the rules official. According to the radio reporter, he said, “Even though I told you I didn’t want to search for it.” The rules official said, “I am very sorry, but yes.”

According to the Rules of Golf, as soon as the original ball is found it is back in play and the second ball on the green is no longer an option to play.

“It’s one of those rules where common sense is thrown out,” said radio commentator Brendon de Jonge.

Lowry asked for a second opinion but the ruling stood.

“I felt like through that whole process of that 20 minutes, it was whatever it was, of taking the drop, seeing where I could drop, and I felt like I was very calm and composed and really knew that I was doing the right thing, and I felt like (caddie) Darren (Reynolds) did a great job too just kind of — he kept telling me, we have loads of time. We don’t need to rush this. We just need to do the right thing here.”

Lowry elected to take an unplayable lie. He could’ve dropped within two club lengths but it wouldn’t have given him much of a shot so instead took the option of taking the ball back on line of sight leaving himself about 70 yards. After the penalty shot, he knocked his fourth to the fringe and took two putts for a double-bogey 6. Lowry led the championship by two when he teed off at No. 11, Railway, but after his Railway nightmare, he left tied for the lead with Englishman Daniel Brown.

“Is this really going to mess with the mind of Shane Lowry?” the radio host asked.

It did not. Lowry didn’t drop another shot and finished with birdies on two of his final three holes to retake the solo lead when he headed to the clubhouse.

“To be honest, I was happy enough leaving there with a 6,” Lowry said. “It wasn’t a disaster. I was still leading the tournament.”