PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Shane Lowry’s Portrush British Open defense won’t officially be dead until Sunday’s final round is complete.
It didn’t officially end with the 3-over-par 74 he shot in Saturday’s third round.
The place it really ended was on No. 12 in Friday’s second round when he was penalized two shots when TV replay showed his practice swing accidentally moved his ball.
That ruling, which Lowry did not argue, made him even par for the tournament instead of 2-under, which he would have been had he not been penalized.
Making matters worse than the triple bogey he took on No. 14 and a bogey on 17, Lowry wasn’t feeling well physically on Saturday.
“I tried to get a protein drink down me after eight holes and I felt like throwing up all over the place,’’ he said. “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 called the penalty ruling that took the air out of his week “hard to take.’’
“You get home late and have to dust yourself off,’’ he said. “Wake up at 2:30 with cramps in my stomach. I know we have it in the house. [My daughter] Ivy had it a couple of days ago.
“I wanted to do well so badly this week,’’ Lowry went on. “I put so much into this week that, yeah, it’s hard to take. I didn’t get to enjoy today as much as I would have liked. Saturday at the Open in your home country, I should enjoy it a lot more than I did.
“Hopefully, I get out tomorrow morning and try and enjoy it as best I can, try to shoot the best score I can and then have a couple weeks off before the playoffs. My big mindset for the next few months is about the Ryder Cup and trying to win that. That’s where all my work is going to go towards over the next while.’’
Jon Rahm, after his round Saturday, was sympathetic to what Lowry had to endure with the penalty.
“I can relate because I’ve been there,’’ Rahm said. “They’ve done exactly the same thing to me where they give you the iPad, and look what happened. You’re in a no-win situation, because if you say, ‘I didn’t see it therefore I don’t think it should be a penalty,’ even though the rule says it should be visible to the naked eye, you always run the risk of being called something you don’t want to be called.
“And if you take it on the safe side, you’re taking a two-shot penalty. If he starts at 2-under today, you have a good Saturday, you can put yourself in contention. When you get 10 shots back, it’s a little bit harder. It’s a tough spot to be in.”
Bryson DeChambeau kept his momentum from a strong second round to make the cut with a 68 on Saturday to get to 2-under for the week.
“The past three days I’ve been playing some great golf, I’ve been striping it,’’ he said. “My game’s in a great place. I’m still proud of the resilience that I had. I wish I could have done more today to give myself a better chance for tomorrow, but that’s golf. I should have played better the first day.’’
DeChambeau was put on the clock for slow play in the 17th hole and afterward addressed the slow-play epidemic in professional golf.
“I can tell you, first two rounds it was out of control what I saw,’’ DeChambeau said of the pace of play. “You eventually [should] time everybody for their entire round. Nobody wants to do it because people are too scared to get exposed, which I am an advocate for. I think it would be more fair towards everybody.
“If somebody is playing slower, the guy can go up to him and say, ‘Hey, man, you’re over-par with your time.’ All you do is you just time them for every single shot. It’s not rocket science.”
John Parry carded the first hole-in-one of the tournament when he jarred an 8-iron on the par-3 12th hole Saturday. Parry said it was the 10th ace of his career, but that one was “definitely the best one, 100 percent.’’
“The sort of experience you get making a hole-in-one in this atmosphere was absolutely amazing,’’ he said.
Justin Leonard, who won the Claret Jug in 1997, played the weekend in a major on Saturday for the first time since 2014.
“Yes, there are emotions,’’ the 53-year-old said. “I’m just happy that I came over here and played the way I did the last couple of days. To come over at my experience — and age — and make the cut is pretty special. Then to come out and play pretty solid today (1-under-par 70) felt good. I feel like me making the cut is kind of contending.
“Playing well and making the cut this week, when I do come back, I’ll kind of have that great memory to think that I can probably do it again.’’
Lee Westwood’s fine week continued on Saturday as he shot a third-round 69. But it wasn’t your ordinary 69. The 52-year-old Westwood, who hasn’t played a major championship since 2022, shot 40 on the front nine and followed that with a 29 on the back.
That tied Ryan Fox for the lowest back nine shot at a Portrush Open. Westwood actually lipped out his birdie putt on 18, which could have given him a 28 and the record by himself.
Westwood, who’s never won a major, has three times finished runner-up in majors, 12 times in the top five, and 19 times in the top 10.