Rory McIlroy learns harsh reality at The Open after bunker nightmare at Royal Troon
Rory McIlroy is one of the favourites at this week's Open Championship, but was dealt a blow in round one after troubles in the bunker saw him make a double bogey at the eighth
Rory McIlroy fell victim to the brutal bunkers at Royal Troon in his opening round at The Open Championship, after the Northern Irishman made double bogey at the shortest hole in Open history.
McIlroy made a steady start to his first round in wet and windy conditions on the Scottish coast, having played his opening seven holes in level-par. Having started with a bogey at the first, the Northern Irishman soon settled himself, making birdie at the par-four third to get back to level.
The most iconic hole on the golf course is the eighth at Royal Troon, iconically named 'The Postage Stamp', with the small putting surface surrounded by some of the setup's toughest bunkers including the famous 'coffin'.
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At just 118-yards, those in action will not play a smaller hole on The Open rota, but its lack of length does not make it an easy test, as McIlroy quickly learned. Chasing birdie, McIlroy played an aggressive tee shot right towards the flag, and whilst it landed just a few feet right, it finishing spot was far from ideal.
The four-time major champion saw his ball quickly roll away from the hole, before falling into a bunker down the right side. Stood over his ball from the sand the goal will no doubt have been to get up-and-down for McIlroy, however the testing Postage Stamp green had other ideas.
After seeing his ball splash out of the sand and onto the surface, it then began to make start making its way back towards him, rolling back off the putting surface and into the bunker. He was taking no chances of landing it short second time round, flying his third shot long of the flag leaving him a testing putt to save bogey.
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The 35-year-old then failed to make it, ensuring he trudged his way off the signature hole with a double bogey on his card. McIlroy is not the first to fall foul of the potential card-wrecking hole and will most definitely not be the last this week, especially with the wind swirling around the Ayrshire track.
One man who knows it well is three-time Open champion Tiger Woods, and whilst he does believe there is some simplicity to it, it does have the tendency to catch even some of the best off guard. "It's just simple," he said ahead of the event. "I hit 9-iron and a pitching wedge the last two times I played it.
"I've hit as much as a 7-iron. But it's a very simple hole; just hit the ball on the green. That's it. Green good, miss green bad. It doesn't get any more simple than that. You don't need a 240-yard par-3 for it to be hard." Things got even worse for McIlroy when making the turn. A bogey at the 10th was followed by a wayward tee shot onto the train tracks down the right-hand-side of 11, leading to another double bogey to leave him in trouble on day one.
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