St. Andrews: Tyrrell Hatton equals course record; posts career best

Everything went well for Tyrrell Hatton on Saturday at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Hatton posted an 11-under 61, a round with nine birdies and an eagle on the Old Course at St. Andrews. That impressive score corresponds to the course record that compatriot Ross Fisher set in 2017. Hatton’s 61 also marks the lowest round of his career.

“I took every hole as it came and tried to make as many birdies as I could,” Hatton said.

“When I holed that putt on 17, I knew I had shot 10-under here before. I can’t remember if it was 2016, the year I won. But yeah, I really wanted to make the last birdie (and I did). That’s actually my lowest lap on tour too. It felt like I was trying harder than normal for a putt on the last one. Good putt, and luckily it went in. It was a cool day.’

Hatton finished with back-to-back birdies on the closing holes of St. Andrews, arguably the two best finishers in the world. Hatton stuck with the par-4 17th, The Road Hole, at four feet, which some describe as one of the most challenging holes in golf.

“We had a pretty good number, 171 on a gentle slope. The ball was a little spiky off the grass this week, and I just hit a grip-down 7-iron, which is equivalent to a three-quarter, and it just came out good,” Hatton said of his approach to the match. 17.

“I landed a little shorter than I expected. I thought it would go a little further. It bounced when it landed and rolled up to about a foot, which you can do on that hole every day.”

With a lead of 22 under and 54 holes, Hatton now has a one-stroke lead over Belgian Nicolas Colsearts, who was vice-captain at last year’s Ryder Cup. But Hatton wasn’t worried about his position on the leaderboard. He was only concerned about himself and how many birdies he could catch – a good strategy on the third day of a DP World Tour event.

“The first leaderboard I saw was on the 17th green, and yeah, obviously I wasn’t really worried about what anyone else was doing,” Hatton said.

“Like I said, I took each hole as it came and tried to make a birdie on that hole. In the end we got a good figure.”

He did so, prompting Hatton to further etch his name into St. Andrews lore.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Make sure you check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko also.