On Thursday, some players at Quail Hollow – including world number one Scottie Scheffler – complained about mud balls, where golf balls get covered in mud and dirt during bad weather.
Preferred lies – a rule sometimes used during periods of adverse weather that permits players to lift, clean and place their ball within a specified distance of its original position on closely-mown areas – were not sanctioned for use by the PGA of America.
Lowry’s tee shot on the eighth hole pitched on the fairway and bounced sideways into a divot left by another player, which meant he was not allowed the relief for an embedded ball that would have applied had it been in his own pitch mark.
“You hit a lovely tee shot, you’re not expecting that,” said world number 10 Lowry.
“I was obviously very annoyed with that because I felt like I had quite a bit of momentum going in the round, and standing there with 40 or 50 yards to the pin off the fairway it’s an easy pitch shot for me – and I walk away making bogey.”
Lowry was particularly unhappy with the unsolicited input of an on-course reporter, adding: “The ESPN guy was a bit too involved when he wasn’t asked to be and that’s what annoyed me a lot.
“He came straight over and said: ‘That’s not your pitch mark.’ That’s not for you to talk about, it’s for me to call a rules official and decide what happens.
“I wasn’t arguing that it was my pitch mark, I was trying to be 100% sure because imagine if I come in [after the round] and all of a sudden somebody told me that was my pitch mark.
“They told Brooks [Koepka] his ball was OK yesterday and it was on the driving range, so you need to be careful about what you’re doing because there’s so much at stake.”
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