Bizarre Open rules at Royal Troon: Tiger Woods bunker chaos and railway relief explained
As the Ayrshire coastline prepares to welcome a battle of the world's best golfers over the next couple of days, all eyes will be glued to the hazards around the course at Royal Troon in the event that some of the big names fall foul.
Indeed, golf is a game known just as much for its cruelty as for its skill.
Millions of pounds are up for grabs at The Open championship this weekend, and players must follow rather strict and exact rulings in order not to be slapped with shot penalties.
From the penal bunkers, swirling out-of-bounds trap zones and the age old railway tracks which tightly hug a corner of the course, Express Sport takes a look at the rulings in play for this weekend's action, and the limited options players will have in certain circumstances.
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But some situations can be much more fraught that others, with some serving up the real possibility of being a card ruiner.
The golfing elite do have some options at their disposal when it comes to ruling within the sand traps, though they must tread incredibly carefully - both literally and metaphorically.
Back in 1997 at Troon, during the first round of the Open championship, the then golf prodigy Tiger Woods found himself in a very uncomfortable situation on just the first hole. After fizzing a long iron down the firm fairway, Woods ended up dropping into a bunker beside the green - before chipping out disastrously, straight over into another sand trap, with his ball landing directly beside that of his playing partner's Bernhard Langer.
Neither player could take their shot without interfering with the ball and lie of the other. It's a rather common situation that can be found at the Open championship, given that many of the vicious undulations of the old courses feed stray balls into the same areas within the sand traps.
And so, a predicament was encountered. A rules official had to be brought over, and the passage of play which followed has set a precedent for action, which will be mirrored this weekend if a similar situation arises.
The bunkers at Royal Troon are incredibly penal and come with only specific relief (Image: Getty)The young Woods had to mark his ball with a tee in the sand, and directly remove it from the bunker without - rather importantly - cleaning the ball or removing any sand debris. As a result, Woods delicately placed the ball on the grass beside the trap.
Once Langer had taken his shot, Woods returned his ball to the bunker in the exact spot it had rested. The disruption in the sand caused by Langer was permitted to be raked, but Woods and his caddie had to closely recreate the original lie of his ball, which had rested in a small built-up trail of sand.
Woods satisfied the rules official with his recreation attempt, and was then permitted to chip out of the bunker and onto the putting surface.
Baseball gorse shotsFlanking many of the fairways at Royal Troon are thick and menacing gorse bushes.
The plant is native to many links courses around the UK, and grows in tight formation with prickly spines and branches. Should a player's ball go fully into a gorse bush, it is not coming out.
However, the top pros rarely tend to miss quite so badly. Yet this does not stop the old gorses from having a say in the Open championship.
In 2004, Ernie Els found himself snared by a gorse bush as his ball rocketed down the fairway. His miss wasn't terrible, and so the ball itself somehow came to rest at around waist height, locked snuggly in the spines of the plant.
This is certainly a situation which could be replicated in the coming days, and players will have to decide whether to follow Els' lead or take relief.
One option in this situation - and one which would be taken by many weekend golfers - is to pluck the ball from the gorse and take an unplayable drop for the cost of one penalty shot. The ball can be dropped, from knee height, at a distance of one club length (usually the driver, the longest in the bag) away from the point of entry. It cannot however be dropped closer to the hole.
Back in 2004 Els mulled his situation over with his caddie, before opting to inject a bit of flair into his play and take the shot on.
Taking a baseball-style grip and stance, Els swung through the gorse bush and connected with the ball, progressing it some 50 yards or so down the fairway, into the second cut of rough.
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The Railway riskThe 11th hole at Royal Troon, a par four aptly named Railway, presents many a knee-knocking scenario for golfers trying to build or hold a score.
From the tee, the railway passing through Troon dominates the entire right hand-side of the hole, with the old brick wall dividing the course from the tracks very much in play. Anything hit beyond the wall itself is immediately out-of-bounds and gone.
At any point during the hole, if the ball finds its way up to the wall in close proximity, no automatic relief is offered. The pros will have to play the ball as it lies, just as they have to at St Andrews' iconic Road Hole.
In 2020 during the AIG Women's Open, Marina Alex was faced with a difficult decision. After overhitting her approach shot through the green, Alex found the lie of her ball up against a solitary tree, which rests onto the brick wall boundary.
Alex and her caddy considered taking a low-lofted iron and chipping the ball directly into the tree, in the hope that it would immediately rebound back and up onto the green.
After a quick chat with a rules official and more debating, she instead decided the shot would involve took much risk, and went for a penalty drop.
Final hole hellThe 18th and final hole at Royal Troon - which will on Sunday evening crown the champion golfer of the year - comprises the classic links golf construction of a clubhouse breathing down the neck of the green.
The iconic Royal Troon building, which will be open only to players and members during the weekend, is just mere steps away from the putting surface. The immediate surrounds therefore are deemed out of bounds.
Golf legend Greg Norman learned this the hard way in 1989 during a dramatic play-off. The Australian star overhit a shot thinly from a sand trap on the 18th fairway, which saw the ball fizz over the green and into the cordoned off area beside the clubhouse, where waiting photographers had gathered to snap the victor.
Norman did not have the option to salvage the shot from the out-of-bounds area, and had his Open dream shattered at the last. This week, many of the top stars will be praying to avoid replicating this nightmare of all scenarios.
Related articles Rory McIlroy opens up on first text he received after US Open meltdown Rory McIlroy doesn't respond during awkward driving range moment at The Open Golfer got exemption to play The Open after missing out last year due to cancerBizarre Open rules at Royal Troon: Tiger Woods bunker chaos and railway relief explained
Bizarre Open rules at Royal Troon: Tiger Woods bunker chaos and railway relief explained
Bizarre Open rules at Royal Troon: Tiger Woods bunker chaos and railway relief explained
Bizarre Open rules at Royal Troon: Tiger Woods bunker chaos and railway relief explained
Bizarre Open rules at Royal Troon: Tiger Woods bunker chaos and railway relief explained
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