Shane Lowry has expressed his disappointment after his attempt to win The Open Championship took a significant hit on Saturday.

Lowry was leading at Royal Troon with seven-under-par after 36 holes and was tipped to secure his second Claret Jug. He began the day two shots ahead of Dan Brown and Justin Rose.

His performance started strong with a birdie at the fourth hole, but a double bogey at the par-three eighth The Postage Stamp disrupted his momentum.

The back nine at Troon proved particularly challenging. Eight out of the nine holes were directly against a strong wind, and many players, including world No.1 Scottie Scheffler, described it as one of the most difficult tests of their careers.

Lowry struggled, making five bogeys on his way home to record a third-round 77, which pushed him back to one-under for the tournament and three shots behind leader Billy Horschel.

Speaking to the media shortly after missing a par putt at the last hole, Lowry criticised plans by the RandA and United States Golf Association to restrict how far golf balls can fly. This move is intended to counteract the increasing power of players and the continuous advancements in technology used by manufacturers.

Golf star Lowry took a swing at the new rules that may make playing on course feel like a day at the amusement park rather than a PGA tour. The Irishman quipped about the difficulty during Saturday's round: "Yeah, it was hard. Yeah, playing a par-three hitting drivers is not much craic. Roll the ball back, huh?"

The contentious ball roll-back strategy set to tee off in 2028 has divided opinion among top golfers, although Rory McIlroy appears supportive of the concept. Justin Rose then stepped into the debate with his view on the matter, stating: "The Postage Stamp, too, is a terrifying hole that's 123 yards. I don't even know where I stand on this debate, to be honest with you."

He further drove his point home, elaborating on the irony of being penalised by having to hit the ball shorter amidst increasingly difficult game conditions. He said: "You can't have us hitting the ball shorter but have every other aspect of the game stretched to the limit in terms of agronomy and greens being 13.5 on the stimpmeter and every other condition, thick rough, all the other things that make the golf course difficult and then roll back the ball. It's kind of like you're hitting us everywhere."

Rose, however, acknowledged one potential upside, hinting at an understanding of the need to preserve traditional courses: "But if does mean that we protect a couple of the classic golf courses where there is no more real estate and they can't push it back any further, we don't want those to become obsolete. If that's the argument, I get it."