The most stinging thing that can happen to a golfer, especially in the heat of a major, is a penalty that rewrites their scorecard. On Friday at Royal Portrush, Shane Lowry felt that sting in full force.
The 2019 Open champion was assessed a two-stroke penalty during his second round after slow-motion footage showed his ball slightly moving during a practice swing on the par-5 12th hole.
The moment, dissected in high definition, transformed a routine par into a costly double bogey, knocking the Irish pro from 2-under to even par.
Amid the scrutiny, the R&A moved swiftly to justify their decision. On Saturday, tournament officials released a detailed statement explaining the penalty’s basis:
During Round 2, 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,” it read, as posted on the PGA Tour’s official site.
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?
Assessing whether the movement of the ball was visible to the naked eye in such a situation assumes the player being in a normal address position for the stroke.
The R&A went further to explain, “In these circumstances there is a one stroke penalty and the ball must be replaced. However, as the ball was played from the spot where it was moved to, the player played from a wrong place and incurs a total penalty of two strokes.”
Shane Lowry doubts the camera angles used for the penalty
The official notice came after Lowry was left “disappointed” and doubted the camera angles, which led to the penalties.
“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,” he told reporters during the post-round press conference on Friday.
Later, he voiced his concern over the footage used.
BREAKINGShane Lowry was assessed a two-stroke penalty for this incident on the 12th hole. According to @ToddLewisGC The R&A spent nearly 20 minutes reviewing the video with Lowry, Scheffler and Morikawa after the round. pic.twitter.com/iJEAuP6gXM
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) July 18, 2025
“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,” he told reporters, per a transcript. “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”.
But the real reason Lowry accepted the penalty was reputation.
“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,” he shared with the media on Day 2.
The incident sparked intense debate across social platforms, some rallying behind Lowry’s integrity, others defending the rules committee’s precision.
Even World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who played alongside Lowry during the first two rounds, weighed in.
Scottie Scheffler Speaks Out on Shane Lowry’s Penalty
“I felt like Shane was put in a pretty tough situation there when they were zooming in on his golf ball,” Scheffler told reporters on Friday. “In the rough it’s hard to tell. From what I looked at very briefly on the video, it looked like it was very difficult to see if the ball was moving –sorry. If the ball moved. The camera was kind of zooming in as stuff was happening,”
Later in the press conference, he praised Lowry for handling the situation well.
“One of the great things about the game of golf is that you call your penalties on yourself,” Sheffler said, per the transcript. “Shane … handled it really well.
“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.”
With the adjustment, Lowry’s score dropped from 70 to 72. He still made the cut, but now trailed leader Scheffler by 10 shots heading into the weekend.
What do you think about the situation? Let us know in the comment section below!
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