Shane Lowry had an excellent first round in the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club. He shot a 2-under 68 to finish within the top-10 of the leaderboard. However, Friday hasn’t been kind to first-round standouts. After Scottie Scheffler opened with three bogeys, Shane Lowry faced a worse fate. And he wasn’t even halfway through his round.

Starting on the back nine, Lowry had already made two bogeys on the 10th and 14th. After saving par on the next two holes, Lowry arrived on the par-3 17th, hoping to steal a birdie. Instead, he ended up cold top-shanking the ball. His 5-iron from the tee box, instead of flying close to 214 yards, veered 164 yards right and dropped into the water. But here is what makes it more baffling.

Aronimink is known for its notorious bunkering, and not for water hazards. Indeed, the 17th is one of the only two holes that have a water hazard. Moreover, the right side of the pond on the 17th sits 50 yards off the green. Shane Lowry’s tee shot plunged right there. He definitely lost control of the club, almost swiveling it on top of his head on the follow-through. The ball, curiously enough, skipped across the water, and Lowry’s frustration eventually boiled over.

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The 17th hole blunder led to a penalty stroke. Lowry went to the drop zone and reached the green from there. But he was clearly not over with the shank as he hurled the headcover of the putter toward his golf bag. It’s not immediately clear whether he was warned by the PGA Championship officials, as the organization has introduced a new Code of Conduct policy.

The Irishman picked up an eventual double bogey. That meant that Lowry dropped from T8 at the beginning of the second round, 52 places down to T60. He was nearer on the leaderboard to his close friend, Rory McIlroy, who had already expressed having a “s**t” round on Thursday. The impact of that cold shank was evident later in the round as well.

The 2019 Open champion couldn’t recover from the lost momentum. He picked up three more bogeys on the front nine before ending his day with a lone birdie on the ninth. Lowry ended his day at 6-over, and after two rounds, he sits at T79 (+4), one shot outside the projected cut line of 3-over. Some fans, however, showed no sympathy toward the Irishman, possibly because of his history of throwing temper tantrums on the greens.

Shane Lowry’s mishit gets a strong reaction from the netizens

“Couldn’t have happened to a more obnoxious player,” wrote one fan in the comments, referring to his past instances of showing anger on the greens. At last year’s PGA Championship in Quail Hollow, Lowry couldn’t hide his frustration with mudballs. His shot landed in a pitchmark, but he was denied relief.

“F–k this place,” Lowry was heard saying on the hot mic after chunking his approach from the pitch mark.

Alluding to that, a few fans commented, “Fook this place.”

Another one wrote, “Shane Lowry just hit a cold top-shank into the water on No. 17. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

However, another comment also said, “Didn’t he do something similar at the Cognizant earlier this year…on hole 17? 😂”

The first fan must have missed the two huge blunders Lowry made on the 16th and 17th holes in the final round of the 2026 Cognizant Classic. He was sitting comfortably at the top of the leaderboard with a comfortable three-stroke lead. However, the Irishman found the water on both holes and ended up scoring consecutive double bogeys. He expressed his disappointment after finishing the tournament at T2, two strokes behind Nico Echavarria.

A fan wrote, “I like seeing pros struggle. Not because I don’t like Lowry, but seeing him hit shots like this makes him relatable for the average joe. Like relax if you don’t pure every shot. The best in the world still hit some really bad shots sometimes.”

The best in the world are indeed struggling at Aronimink Golf Club. And no, we’re not just talking about Lowry here. Even Scottie Scheffler has failed to execute in the second round so far. He started the round at T1, but scored three bogeys and a birdie in the back nine at the start of his round to drop down to T12.

Lastly, a fan said, “He must be near the leaderboard.”

This is another jab at Lowry’s howler back at the PGA National Champion Course, suggesting that he has a habit of ruining an advantage. The fact that he was indeed close to the top of the leaderboard makes it even more accurate. He was about to end his seven-year individual winless streak on the PGA Tour. Unfortunately, that was not to be, and his drought continues to this day.