Shane Lowry’s frustration with Quail Hollow reached new depths during the 2025 PGA Championship, following a tough break on the course and an unexpected interruption. Lowry, who began the day needing a solid round to make the one-over-par cut, ultimately shot a level par 71 and missed the weekend by just one shot.
🚨🏌️😠 #WATCH — Shane Lowry is PISSED after he was not given relief for an embedded ball.
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 16, 2025
Should he have got relief?
pic.twitter.com/S3DGQOsshi
The pivotal moment came on the par-four 8th hole when his drive landed in another player’s pitch mark, leaving him searching for answers. Hoping for embedded ball relief, Lowry called in a rules official, but things quickly escalated when an ESPN Live reporter intervened, offering input where it wasn’t wanted.
“I just hit a lovely tee shot, and you’re not expecting that,” Lowry explained in an interview with the Irish Independent. “I was obviously very annoyed because I had built up some momentum. Standing there with 40 or 50 yards to that pin off the fairway, it’s an easy pitch shot for me. Then I walk away making bogey.”
His frustration boiled over when the ESPN reporter questioned whether it was Lowry’s pitch mark. “That’s not for you to talk about,” Lowry recounted he told the reporter. “That’s for me to call a rules official and decide what happens. Imagine being in my position, trying to be sure, and you’ve got someone from TV telling you otherwise.”
Adding to the tension, Lowry said, “What happens to the guy at 7:10 who’s not on ESPN Live? I guarantee you he’s arguing—that’s his pitch mark. It’s just not a fair situation.”
Lowry’s frustrations weren’t limited to the divot or the interaction with the reporter. The Irishman also struggled with “mud balls” throughout the day, describing the difficulties caused by poor course conditions. “You need to be careful out there because there’s so much at stake,” Lowry said.
Despite fighting hard to regain his footing, including a birdie on the 12th to return to one-over for the championship, missed opportunities on the 14th and 15th holes sealed his fate, leaving him just one frustrating shot outside the cut line. “I felt like I played good golf,” Lowry lamented, “but this is just one of those courses where I never seem to play well. It is what it is.”
Lowry’s raw emotions and candid comments highlight how even for the world’s best golfers, the game can deliver moments of immense challenge and frustration.
