Shane Lowry sent fuming one-word riposte after drawing criticism at The Open

Shane Lowry criticised the setup at The Open after struggling in tricky conditions (Image: GETTY)

Paul McGinley issued a brutal one-word putdown of Shane Lowry after the Irishman criticised the setup at Royal Troon during The Open. Lowry plummeted down the leaderboard on day three and was quick to vent his frustration after surrendering a healthy lead in tricky conditions.

The 37-year-old was three shots ahead of the chasing pack at the start of play but a collapse on the back nine saw him finish on six-under-par. He later questioned if it was a fair fight after being forced to hit drivers off several holes due to the howling winds and torrential rain.

"I don’t really know what to say," said a dejected Lowry after his third round. "It was a grind. It wasn’t much fun. Driver, driver into 15, 16 playing ridiculously long, driver into 17. You’re standing on the 18th tee wondering if you can actually hit the fairway, if you can reach the fairway, and it’s 230 yards to the fairway.

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Lowry suggested the tees should have been moved forward due to the bad weather (Image: GETTY)

"Bear in mind my driver pitched about 220 yards on the 17th hole, so yeah, it’s not much fun out there. Circumstantial as well, it’s obviously very difficult, but you’d have to question why there wasn’t a couple of tees put forward today, to be honest."

Lowry's comments were criticised by McGinley, who only needed one word to sum up his thoughts during an appearance on the Golf Channel. He was asked if the tees should have indeed been pushed up to mitigate the difficult conditions and simply replied: "Nonsense."

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Billy Horschel, who led at the close of play on Saturday, managed two-under-par in the same conditions that Lowry and his playing partner Daniel Brown struggled with. McGinley went on to explain that being forced to adapt in bad weather is simply part and parcel of playing links golf.

"Yes, the guys at the end got screwed, and yes, the golfing gods decided to shuffle the pack by making the leaders play in the toughest weather conditions, but that’s the perils of playing links golf and that’s kind of part of what you have to accept," he said.

"Shane will regret that comment. I know what he’s like. He was hot when he came off. He let a great opportunity slip to win this tournament, and he knew that. He was hot, he had to do press, and he said things that I’m sure he has regretted because nobody loves links golf courses more than he does."

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Shane Lowry sent fuming one-word riposte after drawing criticism at The Open

Shane Lowry sent fuming one-word riposte after drawing criticism at The Open

Shane Lowry sent fuming one-word riposte after drawing criticism at The Open

Shane Lowry sent fuming one-word riposte after drawing criticism at The Open

Shane Lowry sent fuming one-word riposte after drawing criticism at The Open