Even with a penalty that he called on himself, Shane Lowry leads U.S. Open by two

If Shane Lowry goes on to capture his first major championship in the 116th U.S. Open, a trophy won’t hardly be big enough to hold the respect for him in the golf world. The bearded, big-bellied Irishman will be toasted from Pittsburgh to Dublin.

Lowry will lead the Open at Oakmont Country Club by two shots when he wakes up before sunrise Sunday and goes out to play four more holes in the third round. There’s no telling where he’ll stand when the final round begins later in the afternoon.

He does know this: He has spotted the field one shot.

Lowry did what any golfer is supposed to do. At a critical time in his second round Saturday, as Lowry worked to keep pace with leader Dustin Johnson, he called a penalty on himself.

It was the most inconsequential of errors that can be made on a golf course. Lowry settled his putter behind on the ball on the 16th green, and, unbeknownst to anyone but him, it moved ever so slightly back to touch the putter face.

The change in position of the ball: maybe no more than a couple of dimples.

The damage to Lowry’s possible fortunes: immeasurable.

Lowry did the right thing. He called over the U.S. Golf Assn. official with the group, told him what had happened, and gulped down his medicine: a one-stroke penalty. Lowry quietly stewed, holding the putter behind his neck, and then, somehow gathering himself, he drained an eight-foot putt to save bogey.

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Dustin Johnson, right, gets a congratulatory hug from his caddie and younger brother Austin after making a birdie on the 18th hole Sunday at the U.S. Open.

  (Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)

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Dustin Johnson celebrates with partner Paulina Gretzky and son Tatum after winning the U.S. Open on Sunday at Oakmont Country Club.

  (Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)

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Dustin Johnson hoists the U.S. Open winner’s trophy alongside Jack Nicklaus on Sunday evening at Oakmont Country Club.  (Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)

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Dustin Johnson reacts after saving par at No. 16 on Sunday during the final round of the U.S.Open.  (Andrew Redington / Getty Images)

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Shane Lowry reacts after missing a putt on the seventh hole during the final round of the U.S. Open on Sunday.

  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

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Sergio Garcia hits out of the bunker for a birdie on the eighth hole during the final round of the U.S. Open on Sunday.

  (Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)

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Jim Furyk reacts after making a birdie putt on the 17th hole Sunday during the final round of the U.S. Open. Furyk finished with a 66.

  (Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)

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Dustin Johnson plays an approach shot on the third hole Sunday during the final round of the U.S. Open.

  (David Cannon / Getty Images)

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Scott Piercy lines up his putt at No. 17 on Sunday during the final round of the U.S. Open.

  (David Cannon / Getty Images)

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Lee Westwood plays his approach shot on the first hole during the final round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday.

  (Rob Carr / Getty Images)

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Dustin Johnson prepares to putt on the fourth green during the final round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday.  (Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)

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Branden Grace of South Africa preapres to drive at the first hole during the final round of the U.S. Open on Sunday.

  (Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)

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Lee Westwood walks down the 15th fairway during third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday at Oakmont Country Club.

  (Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)

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Andrew Landry listens to caddie Kevin Ensor as he checks the yardage from a row of bunkers on the third hole Saturday during the third round of the U.S. Open.

  (Rob Carr / Getty Images)

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Lee Westwood plays a shot from a bunker at the 11th hole Saturday during the third round of the U.S. Open.

  (Sam Greenwood / Getty Images)

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Shane Lowry reacts after making a birdie at No 7 during the third round of the U.S. Open.

  (John Minchillo / Associated Press)

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Dustin Johnson hits his drive at No. 4 during the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday.  (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

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Louis Oosthuizen, right, is congratulated by Lee Westwood after making a birdie putt at No. 10 during the third round of the U.S. Open.

  (Sam Greenwood / Getty Images)

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Jason Dufner hits a shot from the church pew bunkers on the third hole at Oakmont Country Club during the third round of the U.S. Open.

  (David Cannon / Getty Images)

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Andrew Landry plays a shot on the first hole during the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday.

  (Rob Carr / Getty Images)

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Lee Westwood of England celebrates his eagle on the fifth hole during the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday.

  (David Cannon / Getty Images)

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Sergio Garcia hits his tee shot at No. 8 during the second round of the U.S. Open on Friday at Oakmont Country Club.

  (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

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Fans leave the prepare to leave grandstand seating at Oakmont Country Club after play Friday.

  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

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Justin Thomas hits his approach shot at No. 15 on Friday during the second round of the U.S. Open.

  (Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)

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Dustin Johnson hits an approach shot at the third hole during the second round of the U.S. Open on Friday.

  (David Cannon / Getty Images)

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Dustin Johnson watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the rain-delayed second round of the U.S. Open on Friday.  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

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Fans cheer after Jason Day hits his tee shot at No. 18 on Friday during the continuation of the first round of the U.S. Open.

  (Andrew Redington / Getty Images)

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Jason Day hits his approach shot at No. 14 during the continuation of the first round of the U.S. Open on Friday at Oakmont Country Club.

  (Andrew Redington / Getty Images)

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Fans cross the third fairway during a rain delay on Thursday at the U.S. Open. Play was suspended at Oakmont Country Club with only nine golfers completing the first round.

  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

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Fans wait inside during a rain delay Thursday at Oakmont Country Club on the first day of the U.S. Open.

  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

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Andrew Landry follows through on his tee shot at the seventh hole during the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.

  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

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Jordan Spieth (white cap) and caddie Michael Greller (standing) prepare to leave the course during a delay at Oakmont Country Club on Thursday.

  (Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)

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Andrew Landry watches his tee shot at the fourth hole during the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday at Oakmont, Pa.  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

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Zach Johnson plays a shot from the Church Pews bunker on the third hole during the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.

  (Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images)

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Bubba Watson watches his approach shot at No. 9 during the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.  (David Cannon / Getty Images)

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Amatuer Scottie Schefflertalks with his caddie and sister Callie Scheffler on Thursday during the first round of the U.S. Open.

  (David Cannon / Getty Images)

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Bryson DeChambeau hits out of a bunker on the third hole during the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.

  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

“To hole that second putt was massive for me and massive for my whole day,” Lowry said.

Lowry was matter-of-fact about the penalty.

“I had to penalize myself,” he said. “It’s very frustrating in a tournament like that.”

They don’t get bigger than a major, and Lowry has a chance to seize his first. Going into Sunday’s third-round resumption, Lowry stood at five under par, two shots up on American qualifier Andrew Landry, who was through 13 holes.

Three shots behind at two under was a trio that knows something about major championship infamy: Lee Westwood (through 15 holes), Sergio Garcia (through 14) and Johnson (through 13). The three have played in a combined 170 majors without a win.

This is Lowry’s 14th major, with a couple of ties for ninth (including last year’s U.S. Open) as his best finishes.

Lowry, 29, from County Offaly in central Ireland, was all but unknown to the American public until last year, when he captured the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He already was renowned in his home country for winning the 2009 Irish Open while still an amateur. Lowry has since won once as a pro in Europe, in the 2012 Portugal Masters.

Lowry got his first lead of the tournament at No. 7, where he made his third birdie in a four-hole stretch. When he looked up to see his name on the top of the leaderboard, he said his caddie “had to talk me off my pedestal.

“And then I went ahead and bogeyed the next hole.”

Lowry bounced back with birdies at 9 and 12 to get to three under for the round when play was halted at 8:49 p.m. EDT with nine of the top 20 players on the board still on the course. They were to resume play at 7 a.m. on Sunday.

There are two key players who might have gotten a big break by finishing their third rounds. Jason Day and Branden Grace each fired 66 and got to sleep in. Grace sat at one under, while Day was one over. Day, the world No. 1, was 43rd when the third round started. He had stumbled to a 76 in the first round.

“It may be physically and mentally a little bit tougher on those guys that have to come back and finish in the [morning],” Day said.

Day had a torrid first nine (Oakmont’s back) of 31, making birdies on four of his first five holes. He put up only one red number on the second nine, but it was a big — an eagle after reaching the par-five fourth hole in two shots.

Johnson, who didn’t have to play Saturday morning after going 36 holes Friday, got wild with his driver early in the round, suffered from a couple chipping errors, and had a number of misfires on makeable putts.

A double bogey at the par-four third was particularly painful. Chipping short of the green, Johnson didn’t get the ball up the slope and it rolled back down to him. He chipped again to seven feet and missed.

The longest birdie putt Johnson made was four feet, though he did make a couple of par saves.

“I’m giving myself opportunities,” Johnson said. “I feel like I’m hitting my putts on my line with correct speed. At some point, they will start to go in.”

Defending U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth, starting the third round tied for 35th, looked like he might make a charge similar to Day’s when he drained three birdies in his first four holes. But he could make only one birdie while suffering a double and two bogeys and finished with a 70 that put him nine shots behind Lowry.

tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com