Giving up the ball as lost without bothering to search, he regrouped by firing his fourth to around 15 feet only to be told his original ball had been found and he would have to play it if he could identify it.
A less mature Lowry might have become upset, but the Clara man kept his cool and after making six, he showed great resilience by following brilliant pars at the next four holes with birdies at the 16th and 18th.
“I felt like through that whole process of that 20 minutes, it was whatever it was, of taking the drop, seeing where I could drop, and I felt like I was very calm and composed and really knew that I was doing the right thing,” he said of his protracted rules kerfuffle at the 11th.
“And I felt like (my caddie) Darren (Reynolds) did a great job too; he kept telling me, ‘we have loads of time; we don’t need to rush this; we just need to do the right thing here’.
“To be honest, I was happy enough leaving there with a six. It wasn’t a disaster. I was still leading the tournament.”
As for his response, he said: “I think the 12th hole for me was key. It was playing very difficult, straight into the wind. I hit driver, 4-iron there, two of the the best shots I’ve hit all week to about 30 feet and made par there.
“From then on, I felt like down out of the left coming in, it was playing quite difficult, but I felt like you could give yourself chances on the way in, and that’s what I did.”
After rolling in a 20-footer for birdie at the last, he gave his round a high mark.
“I felt like I went out there, I was in control of my ball, did all the right things for a lot of the round,” he said. “Then, when I got in a bit of trouble, I felt like I really finished the round well.
“I’m pretty happy with the day. To be leading this tournament after two days, it’s why you come here, it’s why we’re here.”
Brown added a 72 to his opening 65 to sit alone in second place on five-under with Rose a shot further back on four-under.
Dean Burmester, Billy Horschel were five behind on two-under but when asked if he considered himself a strong front runner given his penchant for knocking off big titles — the 2019 Open, the BMW PGA, the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and the Irish Open as an amateur — he was modest.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a good runner,” he joked. “I don’t know. I put myself there in a few big tournaments, and I’ve managed to knock them off.
“So I’ve done it a few times. I don’t know. It’s hard to win tournaments. We’ll see. I’ll tell you Sunday evening.”
Asked if the chasing pack should be worried, he pointed to world number one Scottie Scheffler lurking alongside Corey Conners, Jason Day and Patrick Cantlay on one-under.
“I’m not sure Scottie Scheffler is too worried about anyone with the form he’s in,” he said.
“I think if I give myself a chance on Sunday, I know I can do it. That’s as good a position to be in as any.”
