“You always run the risk of being called something you don't want to be called” - Jon Rahm expresses sympathy for Lowry

Jon Rahm of Spain plays his second shot on the seventh hole during Day Three of The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 19, 2025 in Portrush, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Alex Pantling/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)

Jon Rahm believes Shane Lowry was in “a no-win” situation during Friday rules incident and understood that taking a the two-shot penalty on the chin was preferable to being labeled a cheat.

The Offaly man didn’t notice his practice swing had caused his ball to move in the rough at the 12th on Friday and so wasn’t aware it had to be replaced in its original spot, turning a one-shot penalty into two shots as he also played from a wrong place.

Not seeing the ball move was no excuse under the rules as the R&A explained that after reviewing the video, “the naked eye test is satisfied whether or not the player was looking at the ball when it moved”.

Lowry did not argue with the decision and Rahm understood his frustration having suffered under the Rules in the past.

He was slapped with two-stroke penalty during the Memorial Tournament in 2020 when a video replay showed his ball moved while addressing it, even though he didn't feel it move.  Another instance involved a one-shot penalty at the 2018 PGA Championship after his foot accidentally touched the ball while searching for it in the rough.

He played with Lowry yesterday and shot a two-under 69 to move to two-under and while he didn’t see footage of the Offaly man’s rules incident on Friday, he had sympathy,

“Well, 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.

“Yeah, 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.”

Lowry would have entered the third round eight shots off the lead rather than ten and Rahm was sympathetic.
“If he starts at two-under today, you have a good Saturday, you can put yourself in contention,” he said.

“When you get 10 shots back, it's a little bit harder.

“It's a tough spot to be in. From what I understand from the whole thing, and I haven't seen the images, this is just from what I heard, it needs to be visible without a camera.

"If the rule says visible to the naked eye, we need to uphold that more than anything else.”

Asked if the rule need to be changed, Rahm said: “I don't know. It's always going to be based on the situation, and when you get in the rough, it's tricky.  

“But if he didn't see it, I just don't know -- there's enough people, I'm assuming if he was in the rough on 12, right or left, there's enough people around you that if they see it, they're going to say so.  

"Something needs to be changed for sure, I just don't know exactly how they could change it.”