Shane Lowry gets a ‘big’ break when the shot hits the Open marshal

To win any major tournament, you need a little luck – or maybe luck – maybe especially in the linksy Open Championship. Shane Lowry knows that well, and he learned another lesson on Saturday when a marshal’s leg came between him and disaster.

Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, started Saturday’s third round with a two-shot lead. But by the time he got to the par-4 11th, the ‘Train’ hole, his lead was down to one on a rainy, windy day at Royal Troon. The 11th gets its name from the train that runs on the right side, and with the deep gorse that runs up the left, it is one of the most difficult tests on the route.

So much so that Lowry made a double bogey there in his second round on Friday, one of several factors in a round of 69 that earned him the 36-hole lead.

He ended up needing a big break to avoid a lopsided number for the second straight day.

On Saturday, Lowry’s shot found the fairway, leaving him 233 yards to the green. But his long shot was quickly deflected, low and to the left. The NBC broadcast showed Lowry’s ball hurtling toward the gorse on the left side of the fairway, and it looked like nothing could stop it from getting buried in the woods, and burying Lowry’s Open hopes along with it.

But then luck came. When Lowry’s ball headed for the gorse, the Open Championship marshal was moving in a way that looked like he was going to cross the ball. The sad thing is that the marshal was not looking at the ball.

So as the cameras rolled, Lowry’s ball hit the marshal’s leg, stayed in the rough, avoiding a bad ending. NBC’s Mike Tirico immediately called it a “big, big break” in broadcast TV.

Check it out below.

Unfortunately, Lowry couldn’t save par, dropping a tie for the lead at five under at the time, and setting up a crowded leaderboard and a tense back 9.

But if not for a little unintended help from the marshal, it could have been worse.

Kevin Cunningham

Golf.com Editor

As executive producer of GOLF.com, Cunningham edits, writes and publishes stories on GOLF.com, and manages the brand’s e-newsletter, which reaches more than 1.4 million subscribers each month. A two-time alumni, he also helps keep GOLF.com buzzing with breaking news and service content provided by our reporters and writers, and works with the technology team to develop new products and new ways to deliver engagement. site to our audience.