Everything went right for Tyrrell Hatton on Saturday at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Hatton posted an 11-under 61, a round that featured nine birdies and an eagle on the Old Course at St. Andrews. That impressive score matches the course record, which fellow Englishman Ross Fisher set in 2017. Hatton’s 61 also marks the lowest round of his career.
“I was just taking each hole as it came and trying to make as many birdies as I could,” Hatton said.
“I knew when I holed that putt on 17—I had actually shot 10-under here before. I can’t remember if it was 2016, the year that I won. But yeah, I really wanted to birdie the last [and I did]. That’s actually my lowest round on tour, as well. It felt like I was trying harder than I normally would for a putt on the last. Good putt, and thankfully, it went in. It was a cool day.”
Hatton finished with back-to-back birdies on St. Andrews closing holes, arguably the two greatest finishers in the world. Hatton stuck his approach to 3.5 feet at the par-4 17th, The Road Hole, which some describe as one of the most challenging holes in golf.
“We had a pretty nice number, 171 off a slight upslope. The ball this week has been a little bit spiny off the turf, and I was just hitting a grip-down 7-iron, which is equivalent to a three-quarter, and it just came out nice,” Hatton said of his approach into 17.
“Landed a little bit shorter than I thought it would. I thought it would carry a bit further. It bounced when it landed and rolled up to two or three feet, which you’ll take any day on that hole.”
Sitting at 22-under through 54 holes, Hatton now owns a one-shot lead over Belgian Nicolas Colsearts, who was vice-captain at last year’s Ryder Cup. But Hatton had no concerns about where he stood on the leaderboard. He only worried about himself and how many birdies he could capture—a sound strategy on the third day of a DP World Tour event.
“The first leaderboard I saw was on the 17th green, and yeah, I obviously wasn’t really too worried about what anyone else was doing,” Hatton said.
“As I said, I took each hole as it came and tried to make a birdie on that hole. Ended up with a nice tally.”
That he did, which led Hatton to etch his name further into St. Andrews lore.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
