Sick Shane Lowry struck by sickening stomach cramps as Irish golf hero makes one thing clear over penalty storm
Suffering Shane Lowry was smacked by stomach cramps just hours after being sickened by his two-shot penalty at The Open.
The 2019 champion at Royal Portrush has endured an arduous return to the scene of his most-famous triumph.
Lowry was caught in a Friday night storm when he was docked a couple of strokes for a rules infringement over a moving ball.
The Irish star is adamant he didn't see it happen and would have called the foul against himself if he did.
Nonetheless, Lowry accepted the punishment as he did want to face any mischievous finger-pointing or calls of cheating.
Matters got worse for the Claret Jug winner of six years ago when, having returned to his base following the controversial ruling against him, he started to feel unwell with a virus hitting him.
Lowry struggled to a Saturday 74 as he battled against the anguish of the penalty and the pain of the illness and he gave an insight into the issues afterwards.
Asked how he was feeling, he said: 'No, not great. I haven't eaten. I tried to get a protein drink down me after eight holes and I felt like throwing up all over the place.
'It's hard to take. You get home late and have to dust yourself off. Wake up at 2.30am with cramps in my stomach. I know we have it in the house. Ivy had a couple of days ago. [Wife] Wendy had it yesterday. Me and [daughter] Iris have it today. It will be gone by the holidays next week. So at least that's a plus.'
Lowry actually sat down on the ninth fairway for a spell as he toiled and he continued: 'Honestly, every bathroom I went in and tried to throw up, I couldn't. It's just such a bad feeling.
'I think my lack of energy towards the end, maybe, did me in. Look, I don't want to make excuses. It is what it is. It's just really bad timing obviously.
'It's been a tough day, but I'm not going to make excuses. I played poorly and obviously had a bad finish.
'I wanted to do well so badly this week. I put so much into this week that, yeah, it's hard to take. It's golf. It doesn't always go your way, but you just need to kind of keep plugging away.
'The annoying thing for me today is I didn't get to enjoy today as much as I would have liked. Saturday at The Open in your home country, I should enjoy it a lot more than I did, just because of how I felt.
'Hopefully I get out Sunday morning and try and enjoy it as best I can, try to shoot the best score I can, and then have a couple weeks off before the playoffs.
'For me, my big mindset for the next few months is about the Ryder Cup and trying to win that. That's where all my work is going towards over the next while.'
Lowry, meanwhile, opted to stay away from the topic of the two-shot penalty having dealt with the issue concisely on Friday night.
Fellow players have come in support of him with Jon Rahm saying the rule has to change, but the penalty victim said: 'I'm not too keen to talk on it too much. I think we said enough about it last night. Quite supportive, I would say, from the other players. They all feel bad for me that two shots is a lot to give up. I don't really have much else to say actually.'
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
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As Scottie Scheffler steamrolled his way to the Claret Jug, there was another name which kept being mentioned in the discourse surrounding his impending Open Woods. Remember him?Scheffler's peers regularly referred to Woods when they came off the Royal Portrush course last Sunday. So too did the television and radio commentators analysing the comparisons between the current world number one and 15-time major champion Woods - the pre-eminent superstar who elevated golf to a new stratosphere in the late 1990s and early 2000s - continued in the aftermath of Scheffler's fourth major eye-catching statistic further fuelled the frenzy. Exactly 1,197 days had passed between each player's first major win to their response to the parallels being drawn? "I still think they're a bit silly," he said."I just got one-fourth of the way there. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf."One thing is undebatable. Scheffler is conquering the men's game like nobody since Woods in his pomp. Here, BBC Sport analyses how the 29-year-old American is doing it. Creating a 'Tiger-like' dominance The first sign of Scheffler's special qualities came at the 2021 Ryder had been raised about the young American being picked as a Whistling Straits wildcard, but the manner in which he bossed European talisman Jon Rahm in the Sunday singles - putting the hosts on the path to a rare routine win - was a sign of things to the four seasons since, Scheffler has won four of the 15 majors - the 2022 and 2023 Masters, plus this year's US PGA Championship and Open - and earned a further eight top-10 finishes. Throw in 12 PGA Tour victories, along with the Olympic gold medal at Paris 2024, and it is clear why he is the undisputed world number one."Scottie is the bar that we're all trying to get to," said world number two Rory McIlroy."You could argue there's only maybe two or three players in the history of the game that have been on a run like the one that Scottie's been for the past 24 to 36 months." One of those players is - obviously - securing victory at Portrush, Scheffler became only the second player to win The Open while world number one. The first was Woods, who did it three times in 2000, 2005 and machine-like ability, which is apparent even when he does not seem to be playing at his peak, is similar to his fellow is little wonder several of his peers have described Scheffler this week as being "Tiger-like"."I don't think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon and here's Scottie taking that throne," said 2024 Open champion Xander Schauffele."He's a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us."For some, the parallels between Scheffler and Woods - who has claimed a joint record 82 PGA Tour victories - might feel has a long way to go to match the longevity of his compatriot, whose major triumphs stretched from 1997 to the comparisons continue to persist because of the way Scheffler imperiously tears through fields like Woods did in his pomp. 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Having the inner fire to be the best As soon as Scheffler's long-time coach Randy Smith spotted the youngster at their practice range in Dallas, he knew there was something which set the kid was working with PGA Tour professional Joel Edwards and saw 10-year-old Scheffler, sat crosslegged nearby, absorbing everything he witnessed."He's not comparing himself to other eight-year-olds or other 10-year-olds," Smith, who also coached Justin Leonard to the 1997 Open, wrote for Golf Digest last year., external"He's comparing himself to a player on the Korn Ferry Tour, a PGA Tour winner or to the guy who just won the Open Championship."Scheffler successfully put what he had learned into practice on the US junior circuit, then started cleaning up in the collegiate game as he juggled his golf with a finance degree at the University of inevitable move into the professional ranks came in 2018. 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Outside of 15 to 20 feet, I'm still putting conventional."It was something we felt could help us improve, and so far it has."While improved putting has taken Scheffler to Woods-esque heights, will it help him move closer to replicating Woods' achievements over the longer term? That remains to be seen.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Rory McIlroy hails Scottie Scheffler after his Open triumph at Royal Portrush - insisting world No 1 is 'on a different level' to his rivals
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Sunday Post
an hour ago
- Sunday Post
Medics and charities back survivors' plea for ban on sunbeds
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up Doctors, cancer patients and charities are calling for a ban on sunbeds because of their link to potentially fatal skin cancer. They are appealing to the Scottish and UK Governments to follow Australia, Brazil, and now Ireland, in moving to outlaw them in a bid to tackle rising numbers of patients with malignant melanoma. The medics and medical charities cite the burden skin cancer places on patients and the NHS. The plea for a ban follows recent moves by the Irish government to investigate ways of banning commercial sunbeds. The country's health authorities say they are swayed by the fair Celtic complexion being more susceptible to skin cancer from UV rays, and the growing health costs of treating patients with the malignancy. © Shutterstock / RomanRuzicka Cancer Research UK say cases of the most serious skin cancer, malignant melanoma, have soared by a third in the past decade across all age groups including young adults. The cancer is triggered by UV radiation damage to the DNA in skin cells. Last year a UK-wide survey by charity Melanoma Focus found that 28% of adults say they use sunbeds. In Scotland, based on a small sample, the figure was 24%. One of the most alarming findings of the survey was that across the UK, 43% of 18 to 25-year-olds use sunbeds. The charity also found that 34% of UK 16 and 17-year-olds are using sunbeds, despite a legal ban for under-18s. The charity says that around 100 deaths a year are linked to sunbed use across the UK. In hospital dermatology cancer clinics, Scottish skin specialists report regularly seeing patients with stage four melanomas, many of whom say they have used sunbeds. Some of the patients are still in their 20s, said speciality dermatologist Dr Amy Perkins of Forth Valley Health Board. 'I see them at clinic shocked and distressed by the diagnosis of a serious cancer and the surgery and treatment to have to undergo to survive,' she said. 'They struggle to accept that what they thought was essentially cosmetic treatment has increased their risk of melanoma.' Cancer Research reports that people who start using sunbeds before the age of 35 are 87% more likely to develop melanoma. 'People who had ever used a sunbed were 20% more likely to subsequently develop melanoma, compared to people who had never used one,' it adds. Dr John Ferguson, from St Andrews, works as a consultant dermatologist at Guy's & St Thomas' hospital in London. He points to the British Photodermatology Group (BPG) call for a complete ban on commercial sunbeds in the UK to reduce skin cancer and eye disease. Sunbeds also increase the risk of eye cancers, especially in those starting sunbed use before 20, research reports. Dr Ferguson, a BPG committee member, said: 'The evidence linking sunbed use to melanoma is considerable and presents a heavy toll on patients and health care cost. 'Telling a patient they have stage four melanoma is one of the most difficult tasks I have as a dermatologist. 'It is time we banned sunbeds because of the considerable risk to skin cancer.' Its statement calling for a ban says: 'Early sunbed use is associated with the highest increase in skin cancer risk. 'Sunbed use is addictive and associated with smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and other unhealthy behaviours.' Some 16 years have passed since the World Health Organisation's cancer research arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified ultraviolet light emitted from tanning beds as carcinogenic. Charity SKCIN has joined the call for a ban, denouncing current sunbed regulation which limits use to over-18s. 'Sunbed regulations are outdated, ineffective and not being adhered to – with an alarming percentage of under-18s regularly using them,' it says. 'Underage usage is rapidly increasing and fuelled by tanning trends and misinformation, influencing millions of children on social media daily. 'With melanoma rising faster than any other cancer in Britain and one of the biggest lethal malignancies in the 15-34 age group.' So what would the savings be to the NHS in skin cancer treatment? Manchester University scientists say that even at a conservative estimate, a ban along with a public information campaign, would prevent over 200 deaths among 18-year-olds in England alone. More importantly, over 1,000 young people would be spared melanoma and 200 lives would be saved. Gilly Perkins, general manager of The Sunbed Association, said: 'It is chronic over-exposure to the UV light that may increase the risk of skin cancers, mainly non-melanoma skin cancers. For melanoma, intermittent sun exposure and sunburn increase the risk. A sunbed session taken in a professional salon is a controlled, regular dose of UV without burning.' She added: 'UV exposure carries risk if abused – whether from a sunbed, beach holiday, or a garden lounger. But professional tanning salons operate under strict safety regulations designed to minimise those risks. We promote moderation, non-burning exposure, staff training, customer screening and education.' She argued UV exposure benefits cardiovascular health, and modern sunbeds are safer than older ones. 'For many sunbed users, it's not about ignoring risk – it's about managing it.' The Scottish Government said: 'We continue to monitor the effect of sunbed use and advise anyone using them to consider the risks of doing so.' 'I want to see them banned in Scotland. No one deserves to live like this' © Andrew Cawley Claire Gibson, 40, from Edinburgh, has endured years of cancer surgery and scans for a melanoma skin cancer after occasionally using sunbeds as a teenager. Areas of tissue have been removed from her right arm in doctors' latest attempt to save her. She is adamant that she wants to see the government ban commercial sunbeds to spare others the trauma, treatment and continual worry of cancer. The management and systems accountant at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: 'I wish I had never gone near a sunbed but like many teenagers, I thought I would look better with a tan. 'It is now my dearest wish to see them banned in Scotland and the rest of the UK because no one deserves to live like this. 'It is deeply concerning to know that melanoma is now among the most common cancers in teenagers and young adults.' She is waiting for her latest biopsy results after yet more surgery to remove tissue from a suspicious mole on her right arm. 'My treatment to date has been a wide local incision (removal) to remove any surrounding cells and a sentinel lymph node biopsy to check that the melanoma has not extended further. 'Fortunately, it has not.' She says that she is dismayed when she sees high-street sunbed salons promoting sunbeds as healthy. 'My heart sinks when their adverts describe them as having 'health benefits'. 'I pass one on the way to work and wonder how they can possibly proclaim this when I and others have had malignant melanoma. 'I am trying to survive and hugely grateful for the vigilance of my doctors. 'I want everyone to know that melanoma is a real and serious consequence of using sunbeds. 'People who start using sunbeds before 35 have a 75% increased risk of that serious cancer.' Melanoma victim: No tan is worth dying for It was the death of a young journalist at the age of 26 from melanoma which sparked a national campaign for a ban on sunbeds in Australia. Clare Oliver's slogan, 'No Tan Is Worth Dying For', drove legislation through the Australian Parliament in 2016. She campaigned tirelessly, even on her deathbed in 2007, as she forced the Australian government to ban sunbeds and prevent them from killing anyone else. In her last days, Clare wept as she said: 'Don't follow the fad for a tan – look at me and choose life. I don't want to die at 26.' Her wish to see sunbeds banned was supported by leading Australian and global cancer scientist Professor Craig Sinclair. He says banning sunbeds would reduce deaths and costs to the NHS. 'If Scotland banned sunbeds, it would undoubtedly save lives and significantly reduce health care costs caused by skin cancer,' he said. 'Sunbeds, like tobacco, when used as directed significantly increases the risk of skin cancer.' He also dismissed the argument that sunbed shops would go out of business. 'The Australian experience of banning sunbeds more than a decade ago showed sunbed operators quickly reorientated their businesses to other cosmetic services and consumers moved to safer forms of skin treatments such as fake tanning and spray tans.' Scots GP Dr Michael Mrozinski, now working in the Australian bush, says he has treated skin cancer patients who used sunbeds before the ban. 'I worked in a skin cancer clinic in Melbourne for four years and sun damage from people who tan from the sun and used sunbeds is considerable,' he said. 'A sunbed is just a more concentrated form of UV and I hate having to give a skin cancer diagnosis to people as many don't realise how serious it is.'
