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July 20 2024
Shane Lowry: On Friday, Shane Lowry took an early lead at the 152nd Open Championship after an eventful second round. Despite a chaotic incident with a photographer and a spectator on the 11th hole at Royal Troon Golf Club, Lowry kept his composure. Starting the day just one stroke behind Daniel Brown, he managed to secure a two-stroke lead by shooting a 2-under 69, putting him at 7 under after 36 holes. In contrast, Brown finished with a 1-over 72.
Shane Lowry had a two-stroke lead over Brown when he reached the 11th hole, known as "Railway" and considered the most difficult hole on the course because of the railroad running along the right side of the fairway and dense woods on the left.
After safely hitting his tee shot 301 yards to the right, Lowry was left with 176 yards to the pin. As Lowry was getting ready to take his approach shot, he saw a photographer a few yards in front of him.
"There was a cameraman there and he was moving, and I told him to stop or back off, and he just kept standing there," Lowry said.
The photographer picked up his camera, and the movement distracted Lowry, he said, causing him to hit a shot through the high fescue. His ball sailed across the fairway and landed in the gorse on the left.
Lowry turned his frustration toward the photographer, saying, "Just get out of the way. Just get back in there. Damn it."
"I did the tough thing," Lowry said. "I hit my drive where you could find it, which is obviously a tough thing to do on that hole. I laid up nicely in the rough. I deviated a little to the right on top of the shot, and I lost my train of thought a little bit. You're so scared to go right there that I grabbed the club and went left."
Lowry told the R&A rules official walking with his group that he was hitting a provisional shot in case he lost his ball. He hit a new ball onto the green, about 15 feet from the hole.
That's when the real drama began. As Lowry was walking down the fairway, he was told that a spectator had found his real ball in the gorse. Since his ball was not actually lost, he had to find an unbalanced lie and identify an acceptable spot to hit.
"I hit a great provisional," Lowry said. "The referee asked me on the way down if I wanted to look for my first shot, and I said no. So I assumed it was OK. Then we got there and somebody had found it. So obviously we had to look for it or you had to go and identify it. I thought if you declared it lost before you found it, you didn't have to go and identify it."
Lowry called a second official to confirm the decision. After a 20-minute delay, he took a one-stroke penalty for an unplayable lie and dropped his original ball in the trampled rough, two club lengths away from the previous spot in the gorse bush. His view of the 11th green was obstructed, and his fourth shot fell short of the green. Lowry two-putted from 33 feet.
The double-bogey 6 left Lowry tied for first with Brown at 5 under.
Lowry said, "During the whole process of taking risks and seeing where I might fall, I felt surprisingly calm and assured that I was making the right decisions." "I thought [caddie] Darren [Reynolds] did a great job, too. He kept telling me, 'We have plenty of time. We don't need to rush this. We just need to do the right thing here.'"
Lowry carded par on each of the next four holes. He reached the par-5 16th green in two shots and two-putted for birdie from 58 feet. His 20½-foot birdie on the par-4 18th hole pushed his lead over Brown to two shots.
"I felt I went out there, I was in control of my ball [and] I did all the right things for the majority of the round," Lowry said. "I had some difficulties, but I still felt like I ended the round well. I'm very happy with the day. Leading this tournament after two days, that's why you came here, that's why we're here."
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was five shots behind Lowry after posting a 1-under 70 for the second consecutive round. Scheffler's caddie, Ted Scott, struggled during the round after suffering a stomach ailment Thursday night. He was seen lying on the ground and sitting between holes on Friday.
"As the day went on, he started feeling better," Scheffler said. "The doctor took good care of him, but he didn't sleep very much last night. We didn't know if he would be able to sleep this morning, but he struggled. You should have seen him probably lay there for a long time, which was pretty funny."
Scheffler shared fourth place with Billy Horschel (68) and Dean Burmester (69). Xander Schauffele (72), Patrick Cantlay (68), and Jason Day (68) were grouped together at 1 under.
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