Watch Rory McIlroy take six to get out of the Coffin Bunker at Royal Troon
If you want a good idea of just how difficult a short par 3 can be, look no further than at the 123-yard eighth hole at Royal Troon, site of this week’s British Open.
The Postage Stamp, as it’s called, is the shortest hole in the Open rotation, and it can welcome a variety of scores ranging from Ernie Els’ ace there in 2004 to, well, what Rory McIlroy did in a Tuesday practice round.
McIlroy’s tee shot to the back-to-front and left-to-right sloping green wound up in the nastiest of the bunkers surrounding the hole, what’s known as the Coffin Bunker. It’s relatively deep but offers little in the way of room to swing the club, making it difficult to hit the ball, much less get it out with the usual precision pros have from the sand.
During his pre-tournament news conference after the practice round, McIlroy said he took nine on the hole.
With sustained winds of 15-20 mph expected on Friday and Saturday, there’s a decent chance someone might make that score during the tournament.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
