Golf star caught in major rule breach at The Open as 'cheat' claim made after controversial incident

Golf star Shane Lowry has accepted a two-shot penalty at The Open Championship after being caught in a major rule breach.

The 2019 Open Champion entered day two at Royal Portrush on one-under-par and in touch with the leading group.

Lowry has consistently performed well at the tournament in recent years, finishing in the top 12 on three out of the last six occasions that it has been held.

But although he did make the cut on Friday, the 38-year-old has plenty of work to do at the weekend as he finished the day in a tie for 34th.

That was due to an unusual incident midway through his second round, which saw the Irishman accept a two-shot penalty to his score.

Lowry's club was adjudged to have caused his ball, which was positioned in the rough grass, to move as a result of his practice swing.

The infraction appears to be extremely marginal but, using the footage, it was deemed that the ball had moved as a result of the swing.

He was informed by course officials while playing the 15th hole that he would be given a two-shot penalty for the incident.

The Irishman then birdied the hole to ensure that he made the cut, finishing on an even par score over the two days.

He told reporters that he did not argue over the penalty as he did not want to be labelled a 'cheat' on social media.

"The last thing I want to do is sit there and argue and not take the penalty and then get slaughtered all over social media tonight for being a cheat," he said.

"I'm disappointed that they don't have more camera angles on it. The one zoomed in slow motion - they're trying to tell me if it doesn't move from the naked eye, if you don't see it moving, it didn't move.

"I told them I definitely was looking down towards the ball as I was taking that practice swing, and I didn't see it move."

Lowry is 10 shots behind overnight leader Scottie Scheffler (-10), with Matt Fitzpatrick (-8) in second place as the leading British competitor.

Rory McIlroy is in 12th place on three-under-par and retains an outside chance of winning his second Open this weekend.