Shane Lowry says he would not be called a "cheat" after accepting a two-stroke penalty during the second round of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
Shane Lowry said he would not be called a "cheat" after accepting a two-stroke penalty during the second round of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
The R&A judged that the Irishman, who lifted the Claret Jug at Portrush in 2019, caused his ball to move during a practice swing on the 12th hole with the penalty.
Lowry said he did not see the ball move and was "disappointed" that the decision was not based on footage from more camera angles.
Ireland's Lowry finished his round on two-under but was told of the penalty when on the 15th hole.
The penalty leaves Lowry on level-par, one shot above the cut line and he drops from a tie for 17th to tied for 34th.
Lowry, 38, said he would have called a penalty on himself if he felt he had moved the ball and said he was not "arguing" his case with the rules 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," said the world number 18.
"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."
Knowing he had a potential penalty, Lowry then birdied the 15th and said he "played his way" into the weekend as he survived the cut by one stroke.
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Lowry put in 'tough situation' - Scheffler
Lowry's penalty means he is now 10 shots off leader and playing partner Scottie Scheffler.
Scheffler said that Lowry was put in "a pretty tough situation" but "ultimately in golf it's up to the player".
"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," the world number one said.
"It was a very tough spot for Shane to be put in. He handled it really well. It's obviously very frustrating."
Scheffler refused to be drawn on whether he felt Lowry deserved the penalty, but reiterated "it was a very tough situation for him to be put in".
"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."
Category: General Sports
