The eighth hole at Royal Troon, known as the ‘Postage Stamp’, has lived up to its reputation in the first round of the Open Championship.
The infamous short par 3 has already caused 20 double bogeys or worse on day one of The Open, including from big names like Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa.
It has been the fifth hardest hole of the Championship so far, with a scoring average of 3.28.
The Postage Stamp plays 123 yards from the championship tees and is the shortest hole in Open history.
But despite its length, it has been one of the most difficult and dramatic holes at the Championship so far, proving that – as Tiger Woods said this week – “you don’t need a 240-yard par 3 for it to be hard”.
It is one of the reasons why the Postage Stamp is equally beloved and feared by the world’s best players.
“I hit 9-iron and a pitching wedge the last two times I played it,” Woods said of the Postage Stamp this week. “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.”
World no.1 Scottie Scheffler echoed Woods’ comments, saying the Postage Stamp is more about control than sheer power.
“I think number eight is great,” Scheffler said. “I get frustrated sometimes when the solution to distance is just making holes further and further, and then it only just encourages guys to try to hit the ball further and further and not worry as much about controlling your ball.
“The eighth is a good little way to almost step back in time and control your ball a bit more. You don't have to make a par-3 230 yards to make it a great hole.”
McIlroy found out the hard way in his first round after landing his approach on the narrow putting surface, only for his ball to roll into the brutal green-side bunker.
After needing two attempts to get out of the sand, McIlroy suffered the worst hole of his round with a double bogey.
Now all groups are through the Postage Stamp, here's how the field got on in round one.• 156 players• 32 birdies• 33 bogeys• 20 doubles or worse• 51% greens in reg• 36% sand saves3.28 average (5th hardest hole)Reminder, it's just 120 yards. pic.twitter.com/f89JHeBd79July 18, 2024
It was a similar story for many others in the first round of The Open, with only 32 players making birdies on the eighth, while 33 players bogeyed the hole.
Only 51 percent of the 156-man field managed to hit the green in regulation.
