Yes that’s a pun.. I’m sorry! But the 11th at Royal Troon – known as ‘Railway’ has been a killer for golf’s biggest names in the early part of the week.
We’ve seen golf balls flying right over the railway line, and left into the thick gorse bushes, never to be seen again.
We’ve also seen lengthy rulings, players going back to the tee and provisionals being hit, with scores running into the 6s and 7s on this testing par 4.
Over the course of the second day’s play, 19 players carded a double bogey or worse on the tricky 11th, which played as the third hardest hole. This is in part due to the nature of the hole, but also the 25-35 miles per hours winds that have been making scoring so tough!
‘Railway’ played to a scoring average of 4.41, with only the par 3 5th and the par 4 12th seeing a higher average than the 488-yard 11th hole.
Who found themselves in trouble on the 11th at Royal Troon? And was it the railway line or the bushes that saw them fall apart?
488 yards of hell… Who came to grief on 11?
There were plenty of players, from those at the top of the leaderboard to those struggling to make the cut, that found trouble on the 11th.
Here are some of the big names and stories…
Shane Lowry
The biggest story of the day came from the man that leads at the halfway stage. Shane Lowry came unstuck at the 11th, after he pulled his second shot left into the thick gorse bushes.
He then hit a provisional to the heart of the green, only to be told by a referee a spectator had found his first ball. He eventually dropped onto the next fairway, knocking it on for four and two-putting to card a double.
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Jordan Spieth
Jordan Spieth has been known to be a bit wild off the tee throughout his career. We all remember that unbelievable escape at Royal Birkdale a few years back.
On the 11th, though, that wildness came back to bite him. His first tee shot flew out of bounds by a good 40-50 yards, meaning he had to re-tee. The rest of the hole went without incident, but it was a costly double which now sees him ten off the lead at the halfway stage.
Jasper Stubbs
The Aussie was the only man to hit three tee shots on the 11th on Friday. His first found the bushes just inside the wall down the right side. He then hit a provisional down the middle.
Stubbs then found his first ball, but due to the proximity of the boundary stone wall, he had nowhere to drop after taking an unplayable. That meant he had to go back to the tee box to his his third. The 22-year-old would make par with that ball, writing down a 6 on his card.
Victor Perez
Frenchman Victor Perez will rue what went down as he played the 11th. It included two drops, a provisional and a miss from inside four feet. That all equalled a triple-bogey 7, and he missed the cut by a single shot.
New Zealand’s finest was level par through 28 holes of this year’s Open Championship. However, he also made 7 at ‘Railway’. A tee shot out of bounds, another into the boundary wall and a penalty drop. Two putts saw the Kiwi get down for triple.
Who else?
There were plenty of others that struggled on the second day. Matt Fitzpatrick and Joost Luiten were among those to make a 7, while Nacho Elvira, Denny McCarthy and Byeong Hun An all made double. That’s why the 11th played as one of the hardest holes on the course on Friday.
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