Shane Lowry’s frustration boiled over at the eighth hole of the 2025 PGA Championship after he was denied relief from a pitch mark in the fairway. His next shot went into a bunker, and contemporaneous reports said he shouted, “f*** this place.” The dispute turned on whether the ball was embedded in its own pitch mark.
What happened at the eighth hole
The incident occurred Friday, May 16, 2025, during the second round at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina. Lowry’s drive on the short par-4 eighth came to rest in a pitch mark in the fairway. The Irish Times reported that thunderstorms and torrential rain had saturated the course, and that an ESPN on-course reporter pointed out the mark was not Lowry’s. Lowry sought a ruling but was not given relief, according to contemporaneous coverage from Golf Monthly and The Irish Times.
Lowry played the ball as it lay. His next shot finished in a greenside bunker; he struck at the turf in frustration and was reported to have shouted, “f*** this place.” The quoted words are attributed to The Irish Times’s contemporaneous report; the available coverage does not establish an official transcript.
Why the pitch mark mattered
The relevant distinction was whose shot had made the pitch mark. Golf Digest’s explanation of Rule 16.3 says relief is available when a ball is embedded in its own pitch mark, but not when it lies in a mark made by another shot. Because Lowry’s ball was reported to be in someone else’s mark, that distinction explains why he did not receive relief. This is the rule explanation reported by Golf Digest; the cited coverage does not include the full primary rule text or a direct transcript of the ruling.
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Lowry’s later criticism of the ESPN reporter
Lowry later criticized the reporter’s involvement, saying, according to the Westmeath Independent: “The ESPN guy was a bit too involved when he wasn’t asked to be and that’s what annoyed me a lot.” The reporter’s reported role was to point out that the pitch mark was not Lowry’s; the reporting does not say the reporter made the ruling.
How Lowry finished the round
The Westmeath Independent reported that Lowry signed for a second-round 71 and finished two over par, one stroke short of making the cut. The tournament was held May 15–18, 2025, at Quail Hollow, according to the PGA Tour Media 2025 PGA Championship media center.
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