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Rory McIlroy continues to collect negative records instead of majors. His opening round of 78 (+7) at Royal Troon marked his worst major round since his 79 at the start of Royal Portrush in 2019. Even worse, the Northern Irishman ranked only 130th in the “Strokes Gained” category, on a course that demands the utmost precision. “I didn’t do my job well enough,” McIlroy admitted with some regret yesterday. “My new goal at this Open Championship can only be to go out today and somehow make the cut.”

Since his problems yesterday began on the infamous eighth hole, a closer look at the Postage Stamp is warranted, especially considering McIlroy’s double bogey made him one of its notable victims.

The Challenge of The Open Championship 2024: The Postage Stamp

The Postage Stamp, a mere 123-yard par-3, has always been a highlight of Royal Troon, a course that earned its royal designation in 1978, 100 years after its founding. Despite its short length, this hole has claimed many professional scalps over the years. Designed by Willie Fernie in 1881 and named after the distant Ailsa Rock, it was Willie Park Jr., a two-time Champion Golfer, who famously dubbed it the “Postage Stamp” due to its tiny 245-square-meter green.

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Rory McIlroy’s struggles on the Postage Stamp stand out, especially given his stature in the golfing world. His double bogey there contributed significantly to his dismal opening round. “I need to be more precise, especially on holes like the eighth,” McIlroy reflected. The small green and the surrounding bunkers make the Postage Stamp a hole where precision and calm under pressure are paramount. In addition to the Northern Irishman, the difficult hole claimed other victims. Major winners Colin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark also recorded double bogeys and Tiger Woods and Ludvig Aberg each had to accept a bogey. However, the Postage Stamp can also reward precision. Yesterday, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay demonstrated how to navigate this tricky par-3 successfully.

Despite—or perhaps because of—its unpredictability, the Postage Stamp remains a favorite among many professionals. It encapsulates the essence of links golf: challenging, strategic, and at times, unforgiving. For McIlroy, it was a reminder of the thin line between success and failure at the highest level.

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Tiger Woods is in high demand. Not only from fans and journalists, who will be following his every move at The Open Championship 2024, but also in official capacities. So much in demand, in fact, that he has now had to issue a clear cancellation on one point: the Ryder Cup.

Tiger Woods: ‘You only have so many hours in the day’

The decision was very difficult for me to make,’ said Woods at his press conference during The Open Championship. The PGA of America had been waiting a long time to see whether the 15-time major winner would lead the American team in New York after all. But the 48-year-old simply doesn’t have the time.

‘My time has been so loaded with the Tour and everything and what we’re trying to accomplish,’ he explained. ‘I’m on so many different subcommittees that it just takes so much time in the day, and I’m always on calls.’

‘I just didn’t feel like I could do the job properly. I couldn’t devote the time. I barely had enough time to do what I’m doing right now, and add in the TGL starts next year, as well as the Ryder Cup. You add all that together and then with our negotiations with the PIF, all that concurrently going on at exactly the same time, there’s only so many hours in the day.’

‘I just didn’t feel like I would be doing the captaincy or the players in Team USA justice if I was the captain with everything that I have to do.’

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‘That way I can give back to the game in a different way’

A large part of his time is taken up by work for the tour and negotiations with the PIF. Woods never imagined that he would be so involved in the administrative side of things. ‘It’s enjoyable in the sense that I’m able to help the Tour and I’m able to help the next generation of players. Now the players that are coming up now, they have equity in the Tour, and that’s never been done in any major sport in history. It’s a way of me giving back to the game in a different way other than just playing.’ Even if he sometimes wishes he was out on the golf course rather than sitting in a three-hour sub-committee meeting.

The effort seems to be paying off, because he is also happy with the direction in which the negotiations are developing, says Woods. ‘I can tell you that we are making progress,’ he continues, even if he cannot go into details. ‘It’s evolving each and every day. There’s e-mails and chains and texts and ideas that we bounce back and forth from both sides. There’s a good interchange of ideas and thoughts of how the game could look like going forward. It’s just a matter of putting that all together legally. Obviously we have the DOJ with oversight looking into that as well and making sure that we don’t do anything improperly there, as well, but also making sure that all the players benefit from this as well as everyone who’s involved. They want to make money as well. They want to make that return.’

‘We’re now into not just charitable endeavors, we’re into a for-profit model. So we have to make returns.’

‘I will play as long as I feel I can still win the tournament’

And in addition to PIF, PGA and TGL, there is of course Tiger’s own golf game. Because Woods is not yet ready to end the practical part of his career. Only recently, Colin Montgomery called on him to hang up his golf clubs. ‘He didn’t seem to enjoy a single shot at Pinehurst and you think, ‘What the hell is he doing there?’ He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there either,’ predicted the 31-time DP World Tour winner, who has a very special connection to Troon, in an interview with the Times of London. ‘There’s a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go,’ he said. ‘Obviously he still believes he can win. We are more realistic.’

Woods confirms the assumption: ‘I’ll play as long as I can play and I feel I can still win the tournament,’ but also has a very specific answer to Montgomery: ’Well, as a former champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin is not. He’s not a former champion, so he’s not exempt. So he doesn’t have the ability to make that decision. I do.’ Woods will end his career on his own terms and won’t let Colin Montgomery, a broken back or a car accident dictate the end.

The Open Championship 2024 Tee Times