Shane Lowry’s Blunt Message Sparks Debate After Losing Open Championship Lead on Saturday

2019 Open champion Shane Lowry entered the third round of the 152nd Open Championship with a two-stroke lead over England's Justin Rose and Daniel Brown.

After posting a 6-over par 77 on Saturday, Lowry now finds himself three shots off the lead heading into Sunday's final round.

Lowry, as one might expect, wasn't too happy after finishing up on the 18th green this afternoon. He wasn't solely disappointed by his play, though.

After admitting that Saturday's round "wasn't much fun," Lowry took aim at the R&A over what he felt were a few unfair hole setups on the back nine.

"It was a grind," Lowry began. "Wasn't much fun. Driver-driver into 15. 16 playing ridiculously long. Driver into 17...

"You'd have to question why there wasn't a couple of tees pulled forward today, to be honest... They keep trying to make holes longer, yet the best hole on this course is 100 yards."

Lowry's third round took a turn for the worse on the famed par-3 8th hole at Royal Troon, the 130-yard Postage Stamp. After hitting his tee shot into the right green side bunker, he'd make a double-bogey 5.

Things didn't get much better for the former Open champion on the back nine, a collection of holes that world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler described on Saturday as the " hardest nine holes that I'll ever play ."

Lowry would go on to make five bogeys on the inward nine to post a 5-over par 40, putting him (-1 overall) three shots behind current leader Billy Horschel (-4).

Lowry, obviously, wasn't the only player who had to battle the conditions - and difficult setup - during the third round of the U.S. Open.

With that said, though, he wasn't alone in commenting on Royal Troon's brutally tough inward nine, either.

“The back nine, that’s the hardest nine holes I think you could ever play in golf right now, with the wind and rain,” LIV Golf star Dustin Johnson said Saturday , via SB Nation.

Related: Scottie Scheffler Sums Up Royal Troon’s Brutal Back Nine With 7 Words

Related: Jason Day’s Open Championship Outfit Turned Heads on Saturday

Don't be surprised if the setup for the final round of the Open Championship becomes a major talking point from Royal Troon on Sunday.