Shane Lowry has strong reaction to being assessed two-stroke penalty

Lowry called the ruling "very disappointing." He said he was told a penalty is only assessed if the oscillation of the ball could be seen with the naked eye, and Lowry felt it might not have been noticeable without a zoomed-in, slow-motion television view.

"I had to take it ... I wasn't arguing my case, but I'm disappointed that they don't have more camera angles on it," Lowry said, via ESPN's Paolo Uggetti. "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."

Lowry said he felt the officials had already made their decision before discussing the situation with him. He did not want fans to call him "a cheat," however.

"If the ball moved and I caused it to move and it moved, it's a two-shot penalty," Lowry added. "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."

Lowry, who won the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, finished his round at 2-under for the tournament. He wound up even-par after the two-stroke penalty and 10 shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler.

The penalty came at the conclusion of what was a frustrating day for Lowry. Earlier in the round, cameras picked up some foul language from the 38-year-old after he hit a poor shot.