The two-shot penalty that Shane Lowry incurred in the second round of The Open has become one of the biggest talking points of the championship so far.
The Irishman's score was altered following the conclusion of his round when it was deemed that his ball had moved in the rough on the 12th.
As a result, it meant a double bogey for Lowry, not a par. The popular Irishman, who romped to victory at Royal Portush six years ago, said it's "hard to take" - but what do you think about the incident?
Shane Lowry Rules Penalty: What Happened?
The 2019 Open champion found himself in the rough down the left side of the par-5 12th when his ball appeared to slightly roll back after he took a practice swing.
Video footage soon emerged (watch below) on social media of the incident. Lowry said he was told by an R&A official that a ruling would be assessed after the round.
pic.twitter.com/qv6oyBQJf5July 18, 2025
It was later confirmed by the governing body that Lowry had received a one-stroke penalty for causing his ball to move and a further one-stroke penalty for not replacing it back to its original spot.
What Did Lowry Say?
The 38-year-old, who dropped to 10 shots off the lead after the penalty, said he would have called himself up if he felt he had moved the ball and said he was not "arguing" his case with the official.
"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 said.
"I'm disappointed that they don't have more camera angles on it. 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."
What Do You Think?
You've been having your say on the Lowry rules incident on our Facebook page - and not everyone is feeling sympathy for the man from Offaly. Be sure to leave your view below in the comments section.
One reason for this is because Lowry took his practice swing quite close to the golf ball.
"The lesson to be learned is to take your practice swings well away from the ball," said one reader, who also added "a one-stroke penalty would be more appropriate."
"His practice swing definitely caused the ball to move," said another. "Club hit the twig that was in the grass and went under the ball and made it move. Clear as day on replay!"
"What truly stinks in a situation like this is a ball in the rough that moves like that almost never moves to a better position. It just follows gravity. Obviously unintentional and probably not even noticed by the player," someone else commented.
If you watch the clip above, you can clearly see the ball move - that's not really up for debate.
However, a lot of people have been pointing to the use of the camera that picked up the movement - and this is where Lowry is receiving some sympathy.
"He did the honorable thing after the R&A bullied and gaslit him with ultra HD 5k zoomed in ultra slow motion video."
"Trial by tv. Grossly unfair unless the whole field are subject to this VAR type of forensic examination," another reader commented. "We have managed up until now with players integrity and honesty. Yes it is interesting to have these close up HD coverage but that is all it should be, interesting, not damning."
"Not fair they caught it on camera when not everyone playing gets scrutinized like that with HD coverage of every shot," another reader said.
"No human would have seen that with naked eye. I have 20-15 vision and had to watch 3 times and zoom on the video to see it move less than a hair."
"He did not know it moved when he took his practice swing," said another reader. "I saw it live and his head was looking upwards after he swung when the ball moved.
"It was one of those calls that if the HD camera was not following this Super Group, it would have gone unnoticed. He was not looking to get away with anything, it just would have been unnoticed."
The Irishman's playing partner, Scottie Scheffler, who ended up finishing 10 shots ahead, said Lowry "handled it really well".
Most readers agree.
"It moved and it was his practice swing that caused it to move," said one reader. "Although unintentional and harsh, it was the right ruling. Good for him to accept it with class."
