What happens when a golfer’s profanity goes viral, his rulings go wrong, and the governing bodies quietly rewrite the rulebook six months later? Shane Lowry has the answer. The 2019 Open Champion sat down with Dan Rapaport on the “Dan on Golf” podcast this week and addressed his reputation for on-course outbursts. The host didn’t dance around it, and neither did the golfer.

“There are certain courses I don’t like,” Lowry admitted when the host enquired about his habit of saying F this place, before claiming credit for changing golf’s rulebook.

“Two rules were changed because of me last year,” he said. “The one where my ball moved at Portrush. That’s changed now as well. It’s only one shot penalty now. My other one was at Quail Hollow when I was in the plug mark, and they changed the rule.”

The Quail Hollow incident arrived at the PGA Championship in May. Lowry striped his drive down the 8th fairway, leaving just 57 yards to the pin. His ball landed half-buried in someone else’s pitch mark. Under Rule 16.3a, relief was permitted only if the ball was embedded in the player’s own pitch mark. Officials denied his request. Lowry chunked his approach into a greenside bunker, walked away with bogey, and let the hot mic catch his frustration. He ultimately missed the cut at Quail Hollow.

Two months later, the cameras caught something worse. At the Open Championship at Royal Portrush, the very course where Lowry had lifted the Claret Jug in 2019, his practice swing on the 12th hole brushed nearby foliage. A recent retrospective noted the bizarre penalty came courtesy of modern technology: his club never touched the ball, but shook the thick grass around the lie, and television cameras captured what his eyes missed. The R&A slapped him with two strokes. Lowry’s par became a double bogey. He finished 40th, 10 shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler.

Now, by January 1, 2026, the USGA and R&A have implemented Model Local Rules addressing both exact scenarios. The governing bodies folded, and Lowry knows it. On the podcast, Lowry explained the frustration behind his infamous catchphrase. He recalled three-putting at Oakmont during the 2025 U.S. Open while 12 over par for the tournament.

“I hit a lovely wedge shot into 10 feet on the par five to the back left pin,” he said. “And I three-putted it. What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say, ‘Oh, this is great’? Like, it’s so much fun out here shooting 12 over and being made look like an idiot.”

The honesty cut through as Lowry wasn’t attacking the architecture; he was attacking his own misery.

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How Shane Lowry’s outbursts forced the PGA Tour’s hand

The new Model Local Rules took effect January 1, 2026. Golfers can now take free relief from any unrepaired pitch mark in the fairway that is not just their own. And if a player unknowingly causes their ball to move, the penalty drops to one stroke instead of two. No more “double jeopardy” for infractions invisible to the naked eye.

The turnaround was remarkably fast. High-profile incidents took place in May and July, and the golf saw codified changes by January. Basically, just six months from Lowry’s outbursts to official reform. The governing bodies rarely move this quickly. When they do, it’s an implicit admission: the old rule was broken.

This wasn’t unprecedented.

In 2016, after Dustin Johnson‘s controversial ruling at the U.S. Open at Oakmont, officials introduced a Local Rule removing the one-shot penalty for accidentally moving a ball on the putting green. The pattern is clear: suffer visibly at a major, and the rulebook might bend.

Lowry’s honesty was refreshing. So was the outcome. The Irishman’s candidness has made the game fairer for everyone in 2026. The accidental legislator of the PGA Tour got the last word without ever entering a boardroom.