Rory McIlroy was left in stitches when Shane Lowry absentmindedly picked up his ball without marking it first at the US Open.
The trio of Justin Rose, Lowry and McIlroy - the current Masters champion - had high expectations going into Oakmont. However, their performance on the course's challenging rough fell short of those hopes.
Rose ended with a score of 14-over, while McIlroy just scraped through the projected cut line on six-over. Lowry, on the other hand, found himself stuck at a disappointing 17-over after two rounds filled with frustration, even tossing a microphone during a brief outburst in his first round on Thursday.
Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, lost one shot due to a simple oversight. As he approached his ball on the 14th green, Lowry bent down and picked it up, which is permitted as long as the ball has been marked.
However, he had forgotten this crucial step. After lifting the ball, he paused for a moment before placing it back down, slowly looking up with a mischievous smile spread across his face, reports the Mirror US.
McIlroy couldn't contain his laughter at Lowry's gaffe, and Rose also joined in the chuckles. Despite the day's frustrations, the trio managed to find some humour in the situation. In the grand scheme of things, Lowry's mistake didn't have much impact. At the time he lifted the ball, he was already trailing at 14-over, a score far from what he needed to make it through to the weekend.
"Maybe my mind was somewhere else," chuckled Lowry when touching on the marker incident with BBC Sport. "It's one of the stupidest things I've done."
Lowry's performance took a nosedive early in his second round after a disheartening nine-over 79 on Thursday, with the 38-year-old racking up three bogeys and a double bogey in just the first four holes.

The Irish golfer didn't hold back at Oakmont's fourth hole, where his frustration was palpable. After failing to sink a putt for par, Lowry was overheard exclaiming: "F*** this place. F*** this place."
He managed a solitary birdie on the seventh but suffered further setbacks with additional bogeys on the 10th and 15th, as well as another double bogey on the 14th.
McIlroy, a five-time major winner, clinched his place for the weekend rounds with a birdie on the 18th, however. He'll find out who he's paired with for the third round of the US Open, which tees off on Saturday, June 14.
American Sam Burns is currently in the lead, having finished as the runner-up at the Canadian Open last week. He carded an outstanding 65 on Friday, marking the best score seen at Oakmont so far in the competition, and is eager for the weekend's play.
"I played really well yesterday [Thursday], other than the finishing holes. So I think today was just kind of getting mentally ready to come out and try to put a good round together," Burns said.
"I'm looking forward to the weekend. It's a 72-hole golf tournament, and if you can get a round under par out here, no matter if it's one under, you'll take it."