Shane Lowry berates cameraman amid Open disaster

It was all going so well for Shane Lowry, perhaps too well, at this year’s Open.

The Irishman was two shots clear of Englishman Daniel Brown at Royal Troon after three birdies in the front nine.

That’s when he reached ‘The Railway’.

At 488 yards, the par-4 11th is playing the hardest hole as the action heats up mid-way through the second round of the 152nd championship.

And Lowry found out the hard way, as a dramatic incident unfolded. Suddenly fuming, the 2019 Champion Golfer took out his frustrations at a nearby cameraman.

“As I was over the ball, I could just see you with the f*****g camera up!” Lowry told the cameraman. “Just get back there! F**k sake!”

Shane Lowry HOT Mic 🎙️ 🔥

🤬 "As I was over the ball I could just see you putting your f—kin' camera up. Just get outta the way. Just get back there. F—k sake!” @LowryTracker

pic.twitter.com/1tBmDF8vTh

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 19, 2024

Here’s what happened.

Off the tee, the 37-year-old found the right fescue with 177 yards left to the pin. It appeared he’d have a shot at rescuing the ball but produced a large chunk of grass and a ball missiling into the left gorse.

With the ball likely lost, Lowry reloaded and declared a provisional. That was his fourth, and he ran it up to about 20 feet from the hole.

Unfortunately for Lowrie, an eagle-eyed fan found his original ball.

“He would’ve preferred not to have found that ball,” NBC Sports analyst Paul McGinley said, as a 20-minute rules process got underway, creating a logjam on the tee.

Lowry called in a second rules official and was seen walking as far back as the 12th fairway, lining up where he’d take his unplayable drop.

• Sepp Straka reveals classy Bob Mac gesture to Ryder Cup teammates

• Past champion withdraws ahead of round two of The Open

“You can declare a ball lost, but when it’s actually found, it is the ball in play,” R&A rules official Charlie Maran explained.

“The provisional ball that he did play now becomes a wrong ball. So, he has to take his options with his original ball.”

Eventually, Lowry dropped and hit his new fourth shot from about 70 yards and came up just short of the 11th green, where he got up and down for a double bogey six.

Through 14 holes, Lowry regained a solo lead after Brown dropped a shot on his ninth hole of the day.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.