Shane Lowry Endures Embarrassing Rules Blunder At US Open

We've all had lapses of concentration on the golf course and, during the US Open, you could forgive the world's best as they tackled the brutal conditions of Oakmont Country Club.

The leaders were barely breaking par and, in terms of Shane Lowry, who actually held the 54-hole lead when the US Open was last at Oakmont Country Club in 2016, it was definitely a day to forget.

Sitting nine-over-par after his first round, Lowry opened his second round with three bogeys and a double bogey in his first four holes.

Although he steadied the ship, Lowry remained 14-over-par, until an embarrassing, albeit funny, moment occurred on the par 4 14th that all but summed up his week at Oakmont.

Playing alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose, Lowry chipped his third from the fringe and, as he reached the green, picked his golf ball up. The only slight problem is that Lowry didn't mark it first.

Standing in silence for a few seconds, Lowry then put the ball back on the green and shared a laugh with his fellow Ryder Cup teammates, who also shared a chuckle in the early ends of their rounds.

Under Rule 14.1a - 'Spot of Ball to Be Lifted and Replaced Must Be Marked' it states: "Before lifting a ball under a Rule requiring the ball to be replaced on its original spot, the player must mark the spot which means to: 'Place a ball-marker right behind or right next to the ball', or 'Hold a club on the ground right behind or right next to the ball'.

"If the spot is marked with a ball-marker after replacing the ball, the player must remove the ball-marker before making a stroke.

"If the player lifts the ball without marking its spot, marks its spot in a wrong way or makes a stroke with a ball-marker left in place, the player gets one penalty stroke."

Following the moment, Lowry was given a one stroke penalty, with his bogey five being changed to a double bogey six.

He finished at 17-over-par and was one of many big names to miss the US Open cut.