The 29-year-old Irishman had been lining up a long-range putt on par-three 16th green at sun-soaked Oakmont when his ball moved and he quickly summoned a rules official across to dock him one shot.
"I hit a nice six-iron into the right-hand side of the green and had a straightforward two-putt from 30 feet up the hill," Lowry told reporters after carding a level-par 70 to finish the second round at two-under, two strokes off the lead.
"I addressed the ball, and the ball moved back. I had to penalise myself. It's very frustrating in a tournament like that.
"I actually holed a great eight-footer for a bogey on that hole. If I would have missed that, it would have been difficult to get back from there. That kind of kept me going."
Lowry's sportsmanship is laudable, given that golfers are no longer automatically deemed to have caused the ball to move after address in a rule change implemented by golf's governing bodies at the start of this year.
According to Rule 18-2b, a one-stroke penalty is now only given if the facts show that a player caused the ball to move.
Previously, players were always viewed as guilty unless proved innocent, though exceptions were made in certain instances, such as strong gusts.
Lowry, who had opened with a 68, offset two early bogeys with two birdies on his back nine to remain in contention on a challenging layout playing faster and firmer in bright sunshine
"I just played good golf," said Lowry, a three-times winner on the European Tour, who started the second round at the 10th hole.
"In fact, I played good golf all day, didn't hit it in trouble very much. Hit plenty of fairways, plenty of greens, and that's what you need to do out here."
He made a nice par at his final hole, the par-four ninth, where he was bunkered off the tee and hit his second shot only 70 yards, before getting up and down by sinking a 25-foot putt.
"And that par save on the last, that's where tournaments are won and lost. You get one back. I'm happy with that."
(Editing by Andrew Both)
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