Golf can be a humbling game, so it’s nice for the rest of us to see the best players in the world have some trouble with the aspects of the game they so often make look incredibly easy. During a practice round on Tuesday morning, Rory McIlroy found himself in one of the five bunkers that surround the famous “Postage Stamp” par-3 at Royal Troon.
The 123-yard hole is the shortest in the Open Championship rotation, but it proved why it is such a great hole by forcing McIlroy to take six swipes before extricating himself fully.
The video, courtesy of Sky Sports, is brilliant and Rory explained what happened during his pre-tournament press conference, via GolfChannel.com.
“I think I took an 8 or a 9, so that didn’t go too well. Headed into the front right bunker and it took me like five or six goes to get out of it. There is a lot of sand in the bunker. So when the ball just trickles in back into the bunkers, it doesn’t go into the middle. It sort of stays. Obviously that lip there is basically vertical, so it sort of just stayed there. And every time I tried to get it out, it would go back into the same spot,” he said.
“It’s one of those holes where you just try to hit it in the middle of the green. Even though it’s only 115, 120 yards. You just have to not be that aggressive. Try to hit it in the middle. Even hitting it into the middle of the green is a good shot, and then take two putts. If you make four threes there this week, you’re probably going to gain a bit of ground on the field.”
———
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @SwingbySwing and Like Us on Facebook.
