Six years ago at Royal Portrush, Shane Lowry had an indelible week by winning the British Open.
Now, back at the site of his triumph, the tide has turned for the Irishman.
In contention through two rounds, Lowry suffered a misfortune on Friday. A video review concluded he caused his ball to move in the rough while taking a practice swing on the 12th hole and was docked two strokes, turning a 70 into a 72.
“I wanted to do well so badly today and this week,” Lowry said after a third-round 74. “I put so much into this week that, yeah, it’s hard to take.”
And things got worse for the 38-year-old entering the weekend.
Lowry caught a virus from family members, with whom he is staying this week. After the penalty made him disgruntled, he woke up at 2:30 a.m. with cramps in his stomach. He still managed to tee off at 11:30 a.m. local time, albeit on an empty stomach.
“I haven’t eaten today yet,” Lowry said. “I tried to get a protein drink down me after eight holes, and I felt like throwing up all over the place. Yeah, it’s been a tough day, but I’m not going to make excuses. I played poorly today and obviously had a bad finish.”
Lowry added: “Honestly, every bathroom I went in and tried to throw up, I couldn’t. It’s just such a bad feeling. I think lack of energy towards the end maybe did me in. Look, I don’t want to make excuses. It is what it is. It's just really bad timing obviously.”
Withdrawing, however, never crossed his mind.
“Yeah, I’m not not playing,” the world No. 18 said. “I’m definitely playing.”
Towards the end of his media scrum, the focus shifted back to his penalty.
— Golf Clips (@clips_golf) July 18, 2025
Lowry wasn’t aware of his ball allegedly moving until a rules official approached him three holes later and told him they would review the issue after the round. Lowry then admitted he wished there were more camera angles of his ball, and Scottie Scheffler, Lowry’s playing partner in the first two rounds, believed the situation was murky.
“Ultimately in golf, it’s up to the player,” Scheffler said Friday, “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. 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.”
A day later, Lowry was asked about the fairness of the ruling, but didn’t want to discuss it.
“I’m not too keen to talk on it too much,” he said. “I think we said enough about it last night. Quite supportive, I would say, from the other players. They all feel bad for me that two shots is a lot to give up. Yeah, I don’t really have much else to say actually.”
Then, a reporter asked Lowry if he remembers calling a two-shot penalty of himself at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont because his ball moved on the green.
Lowry answered briefly and reluctantly before exiting the interview area.
“Oakmont? No, I don’t—I have called penalties on myself,” he said. “By the way, I—no, I’m not going to say any more.”
More British Open on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shane Lowry, Still Angry Over Penalty, Has Miserable Saturday at British Open.