Shane Lowry forced to take drastic action in viral incident at Irish Open

Shane Lowry had to make an unusual move to avoid what could have caused some major drama as he leads the Irish Open.

On Thursday, some of the biggest names in golf arrived at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg for the Irish Open, taking place from September 10-13.

After finishing his second round on the course with a stunning round of eight birdies, Ireland's own Lowry is in the lead, with clever evasive actions on the 10th vital to his success as it prevented what could have been a brutal penalty.

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Shane Lowry forced into self-nutmeg to avoid Irish Open penalty debate

Back in 2009, Lowry did what any Irish golfer dreams of and claimed victory in his home tournament at County Louth.

Now, 17 years later, the 39-year-old may have the chance to do so once again after finishing his second round 11 shots under-par, three shots less than Li Haotong and Jacob Skov Olesen at the time of writing.

In his opening round, Lowry shot three-under on the par-70 course, putting himself in a strong position that he more than made the most of on Friday.

As he walked onto the 10th hole, the Irishman boasted a score of six-under across the the front nine in County Clare, taking him to nine-under overall.

However, the impressive run threatened to fall apart completely after the halfway mark of his second round despite him putting away a strong drive on the par-5 10th hole.

Lowry's approach shot saw him land in some long, wet rough to the right of the green and, despite a massive swing, he only managed to get to ball to land straight in front of him on a sideways hill.

Immediately, the ball started to roll backwards, forcing Lowry to quickly move out of the way to let the ball go straight through his legs.

Although the moment seems fairly unimportant on the surface, the quick-witted self-nutmeg ensured that the ball didn't hit Lowry, which could have in turn brought on a penalty.

Under the R&A Rule 11.2, Lowry could have received the general penalty of two strokes if he had been deemed to have deliberately touched, deflected or stopped the ball.

Rule 11.1a states that if a moving ball accidentally hits any person — including the player who struck it - they would not be handed a penalty, meaning Lowry could have avoided punishment depending on how the moment was judged.

Although it's unclear exactly how it would have unfolded, such a debate would be the last thing that Lowry would want heading into the weekend with the lead.

Thankfully, it didn't happen and Lowry was able to save par before picking up birdies on the 11th, 12th and 15th and getting par on the final three to card a round of 62, setting a new course record.

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Donald Trump set to cause major disruption with Irish Open visit

It means that Lowry is more than likely to be the Irish Open leader when US President Donald Trump arrives to the course after touching down in Dublin on Saturday.

As the owner of the host venue, Trump is set to arrive at the Irish Open in the afternoon, flying into Shannon Airport after visiting Ireland's President Catherine Connolly and the Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin in the morning.

Trump is then set to leave Ireland on Sunday evening following the end of the tournament.

Of course, such a major arrival is set to cause major disruption for spectators, with an Garda Síochána (Irish police force) describing the visit as one of the biggest security and policing operations" ever undertaken by the force.

Speaking about Trump's visit, Northern Irish golf star Rory McIlroy told BBC Sport. “He’s a big fan of golf, he’s a wonderful supporter of golf.

"It’s going to be different with him being here but we’re here to play a golf tournament, and it’s a good golf course, and keep our head down and play.

“I think the weekend, especially when he’s here, crowds will be limited.

“Obviously, there’s a lot that goes on. So, logistically, it provides some challenges, absolutely. But at the same time, if he wants to come and watch the Irish Open, who are we to say no?”

McIlroy is currently tied 21st in the Irish Open with a score of two-under-par.

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