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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
TROON, Scotland — Shane Lowry holds a two-shot lead at the 152nd Open Championship, but only after he survived a debacle involving a photographer and a spectator on the 11th hole at Royal Troon Golf Club on Friday.
Lowry, who started the round one stroke behind Daniel Brown, had a two-stroke lead over the relatively unknown qualifier and 2018 Open runner-up Justin Rose after posting a 2-under 69 to move to 7 under after 36 holes.
Lowry had a two-stroke lead over Brown, who shot a 1-over 72 on Friday, when he stepped to the 11th hole, which is known as “The Railway” and is considered the most difficult on the course because of the railroad running down the right side of the fairway and thick gorse protecting the left.
After safely hitting his tee shot 301 yards down the right side, Lowry was left with 176 yards to the pin. As Lowry prepared to hit his approach shot, he noticed a photographer standing several yards in front of him.
“There was a cameraman there and he was walking up, and I asked him to stop or move back, and he just kind of stayed there,” said Lowry, who is looking for his second major title after winning the 2019 Open Championship.
The photographer raised his camera, and the movement distracted Lowry, he said, causing him to smother his shot out of the high fescue. His ball shot across the fairway and landed in gorse on the left.
Lowry turned his frustration to the photographer, telling him, “Just get outta the way. Just get back there. F—‘s sake.”
“I did the hard part,” Lowry said. “I hit my drive where you could find it, which is obviously a hard thing to do on that hole. I had a nice lie in the rough. I got a little bit distracted on the right just as I was over the shot, and I kind of lost a bit of train of thought. You’re so afraid of going right there that I just snagged the club and went left.”
Lowry informed the R&A rules official walking with his group that he was hitting a provisional shot in case his ball was lost. He hit a new ball onto the green, about 15 feet past the hole.
That’s when the real drama ensued. As Lowry was walking up the fairway, he was informed that a spectator had found his original ball in the gorse. Since his ball wasn’t actually lost, he had to take an unplayable lie and identify an acceptable spot to hit from.
“I hit a great provisional,” Lowry said. “The referee asked me going down, did I want to find my first one, and I said no. So I assumed that was OK. Then we get down there and somebody had found it. So apparently we have to find it then or you have to go and identify it. I thought if you declared it lost before it was found, you didn’t have to go and identify it.”
Lowry asked for a second official to confirm the ruling. After a 20-minute delay, he took a one-stroke penalty for an unplayable lie and dropped his original ball on trampled rough, two club lengths from the previous spot in the gorse bush. His view of the 11th green was obstructed, and his fourth shot landed short of the green. Lowry two-putted from 33 feet.
The double-bogey 6 dropped Lowry into a first-place tie with Brown at 5 under.
“I felt like through that whole process of that 20 minutes of taking the drop, seeing where I could drop, I felt like I was very calm and composed and really knew that I was doing the right thing,” Lowry said. “I felt like [caddie Darren Reynolds] did a great job too. He kept telling me, ‘We have loads of time. We don’t need to rush this. We just need to do the right thing here.'”
Lowry carded pars on each of the next four holes. He reached the par-5 16th green in two shots and two-putted from 58 feet for a birdie. A 20½-foot birdie on the par-4 18th extended his lead over Brown to two shots.
“I felt like I went out there, I was in control of my ball [and] did all the right things for a lot of the round,” Lowry said. “Then when I got in a bit of trouble, I feel like I really finished the round well. I’m pretty happy with the day. To be leading this tournament after two days, it’s why you come here, it’s why we’re here.”
Rose, who finished second in 2018 at Carnoustie Golf Links, had to go through final qualifying to make the field this year. He is making the most of his opportunity, carding a 3-under 68 on Friday, including a 41½-footer on No. 18 to get to 5 under and tie Brown for second.
It’s Rose’s best 36-hole position in a major since he had a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the 2021 Masters. He finished seventh at Augusta National that year.
An Englishman hasn’t won The Open since Nick Faldo in 1992. When Rose captured the 2013 U.S. Open, he was the first golfer from England to do it since Tony Jacklin in 1970.
“Those are nice moments when it comes together and you can share the story of what it means, but you’re never thinking of it, and we are pretty selfish from that point of view,” Rose said. “Like, we want it for us, and obviously it’s great to share it with everybody that it’s meaningful to, but in the moment you’re just trying to get the job done.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was five shots behind Lowry after posting a 1-under 70 for the second straight round. Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, labored through the round after battling a stomach illness Thursday night. He was seen lying on the ground and sitting between holes Friday.
“He seemed to feel better as the day went on,” Scheffler said. “The doc here took good care of him, but he did not sleep very much last night apparently. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to go this morning, but he fought it out. You saw him laying down probably quite a bit out there, which was pretty funny.”
Scheffler was in a tie for fourth with Billy Horschel (68) and Dean Burmester (69). PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele (72), Patrick Cantlay (68) and Jason Day (68) were among a group at 1 under.
