Rory McIlroy buried in 'Coffin Bunker' at Troon's Postage Stamp

— -- TROON, Scotland -- Links golf course designers really like to punish a player finding the sand, and there aren't many more daunting on the Open Championship rota than the deep, rectangular-shaped trap to the right of Royal Troon's infamous Postage Stamp green.

While Troon's 8th hole typically only plays 115-120 yards throughout Open week, the narrow, sand-protected, wind-exposed green offers an intimidating target for even the world's best players.

And during Tuesday's practice round, Rory McIlroy found out the hard way why the trap snaffling players missing right is known as the "Coffin Bunker".

Video courtesy of Sky Sports.

When asked about it after his round, McIlroy said: "I think I took an 8 or a 9, so that didn't go too well. It took me like five or six goes to get out of it. There is a lot of sand in the bunker, so when the ball trickles back into the bunkers, it doesn't go into the middle. That lip there is basically vertical, and every time I tried to get it out, it would go back into the same spot.

"Hopefully the struggle is out of the way for that hole."

Being a practice round, McIlroy is unlikely to lose any sleep over it, and he added that he'll be looking for "four threes" there over the course of the tournament.

McIlroy isn't the first player to find himself licked by the Postage Stamp, and he certainly won't be the last. In the 1950 Open, German amateur Herman Tissies found the Coffin Bunker with his tee shot and needed 13 to get out -- he drained the putt to "save" a 15 -- while golf greats such as Gene Sarazen and Tiger Woods have both seen their championship challenge crumble at that hole.

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. And a golfer's chance of winning The Open buried in the Coffin Bunker.