WATCH: Harding gives amateurs hope with bunker fail

Cape Town - South Africa's Justin Harding provided the first comical moment of the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush during Thursday's opening round.

Harding, 33, was 1-under par after four holes when he found a green-side bunker with his second shot at the par-4, fifth hole.

In every amateur's nightmare scenario, the ball was plugged - and to make matters worse - was up against the face of the bunker.

In an attempt to extricate himself from the predicament, Harding swung, lost his balance and toppled back into the bunker.

There may even have been a swear word uttered.

To add insult to injury, the ball remained in the bunker.

Harding dusted himself off, managed to escape the bunker with his second attempt, but had to settle for a double bogey.

When all was said and done, Harding signed for an opening round of level par, 71.

Seeing the lighter side, Harding took to social media to post a clip of his struggles, writing simply: "Golf is hard".