- The 152nd Open Championship takes place this week at Royal Troon Golf Club
Who better to ask why something that seems so simple is actually so complex than the greatest of all time?
It takes just 114 paces to walk from tee to green on Royal Troon’s iconic eighth hole, better known as The Postage Stamp. But as Tiger Woods explained to Mail Sport, distance can be dangerously deceptive in this mesmerising battle with nature.
“I’ve hit a 9-iron and a pitching wedge the last two times I’ve played,” Woods said. “I’ve even hit a 7-iron. You don’t need a 240-yard par-3 to make it difficult. But it’s a very simple hole — just hit the green. That’s it. Green, good. Miss green? Bad.”
He should know. A triple-bogey here in the final round of 1997 put an irreparable hole in what he thought at the time might be a winning challenge.
But when you stand between the pegs with his words in mind, it seems easy. The green is inviting, the carry is minimal, but the reality is different: a scorecard is threatened in the same way as a lone swimmer in a river where crocodiles rest on a bank when the elements unexpectedly turn.
A general view of the 8th green, known as the Postage Stamp, during a practice day prior to The Open
Scotsman Jack McDonald (left) plays from a bunker next to the 8th green, the Postage Stamp hole
“The crowd loves a short par three,” says Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley. “It’s such a small hole, but it’s incredibly difficult when there’s a crosswind. You have to take a wedge, but because of the loft on the club it’s hard to shape a ball.
“If there’s a crosswind (this week), you’re going to see a lot of big numbers. Doubles, maybe even a triple (bogey). If you’re playing straight into the wind, it’s fine. Downwind, it’s tough. A crosswind is even tougher. The stands make it tough to read the wind. If you go into those bunkers, you’re in trouble.”
You really are. It was a lesson to be at the hole yesterday afternoon, as group after group spent time studying the undulations, the depth of the falls (so deep you can barely see the top of the flag) and how a good shot can suddenly become disastrous.
Take this: In favorable conditions around 2 p.m., Japanese player Jeung-Hung Wan hit a 50-degree wedge to four feet for what would have been a rock-solid birdie. His playing partner and compatriot Si Woo Kim was just as accurate.
Their caddies, however, took them to the back of the green and showed them what a little miscalculation can do. They rolled a ball slightly to one side and watched as it picked up speed and swung like crazy down and down into the sand.
Even more revealing, however, was the 15 minutes that English amateur Dominic Clemons and 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink gave themselves. Clemons received thunderous applause after hitting a gap wedge to two feet, at one point looking like it might be an ace.
Robert MacIntyre (L) from Scotland and Sami Valimaki (2-R) from Finland at the Postage Stamp
Japan’s Ryosuke Kinoshita takes a shot from one of the many pot bunkers near the hole
Cink’s tee shot was short and left. Instead of aiming for the hole, he asked his caddie Chris P Jones to put markers on the back of the green, with an idea of where the pin might be on Saturday and Sunday.
“If you play the holes one and a half or two over par for four rounds, you don’t lose any ground,” insisted the vastly experienced Jones. “That’s average.”
It was only natural to listen. A moment later, Byson DeChambeau and his entourage arrived. The wind had picked up considerably and the US Open champion was torn about which club to take. His first two shots reached the green, but they didn’t come close to the target. Then came the third.
The connection was solid, but there were immediate surprises.
“Oh no…” DeChambeau groaned. It was long, left, and ended in thick rough that would have made his second shot impossible. He walked away, not looking where it had landed. He wasn’t the first to feel that way. He won’t be the last.