[PHOTOS: Richard Heathcote]
You’ve got to love the Old Course. Well, you don’t have to, but it seems like it helps to feel at home in the Home of Golf. Especially if your name is Tyrrell Hatton.
In seeing off the persistent challenge of Nicolas Colsaerts over the most famous closing holes in golf to claim his third Alfred Dunhill Links Championship title, the Englishman confirmed his now peerless ability to perform with distinction in this pro-am event that also encompasses rounds at Kingsbarns and Carnoustie. As well as his record-breaking three victories, Hatton has a brace of second place finishes and a T-7 in only 11 appearances. Not since he missed the cut in 2015 has he placed outside the top-15.
All of which deserves some explanation. Especially as Hatton has played in three Open Championships at the Old Course and missed the cut in all three. In his lone Open at Carnoustie, he finished a lowly T-51.
“I’ve been able to shoot some decent scores here at the Old Course, and it’s a course that I feel pretty comfortable on, especially on the greens,” said Hatton, who shot a final-round 70 for a 24-under-par total. “Generally, I putt pretty well when I play here. If I have a good putting week, I should give myself a chance. Plus, how the course is set up for this event allows you to be more aggressive. Certainly when we play here [in The Open] and the rough is a little bit thicker, you have to be a little bit more conservative.”
Which is exactly what Hatton was not over what proved to be the decisive last two holes. This was a hard-fought victory and one that surely provided pleasure for those who love multi-dimensional links golf. As it does so often at St Andrews, the difference between winning and losing was defined by two of the most widely known (and feared) features on the course: the Road Hole Bunker and the Valley of Sin.
The two main protagonists arrived on the penultimate tee all-square in what had by then evolved into the most interesting form of strokeplay. In other words, matchplay.
https://twitter.com/DPWorldTour/status/1842964772717007188
Playing safe, Colsaerts took his drive way left of the fairway and left of the left rough, almost onto the second hole. Hatton, trusting his technique, hit the perfect tee shot into the right half of the correct fairway. From there, his angle into the flag was way more inviting than that of his playing partner. The balls, incidentally, were as much as 70 paces apart.
The advantage Hatton enjoyed was soon enough evident. From 203 metres, he left his approach on the back-left edge of one of the most elusive greens in golf. Colsaerts, showing predictable restraint, sensibly took the Road Bunker out of play and laid up short and right of the putting surface.
“I considered going long and left,” he said. “But if that ball flies a little and goes past the 18th tee box, it is ‘game over’. And I ended up making a great 4.”
After a crisp pitch to eight feet, the Belgian holed out resolutely to match Hatton’s tap-in par.
The drives off the 18th tee were only a few steps apart with Colsaerts just short of the green on the verge of the valley. Hatton was further back, affording him the option of chipping rather than putting. Which turned out to be crucial. After the soon-to-be three-time champion chipped to inside four feet, Colsaerts left his putt 10 feet short then missed for the birdie that Hatton duly made. Both men shot 70.
“I stood up and hit a really good tee shot on 18,” confirmed Hatton, who earned $US816,000. “And then the chip shot. Apart from holing it, I don’t even want it back. That being said, it was quite nerve-wracking standing over a three-foot putt just praying that you hole it.”
.@TyrrellHatton extends his lead to two ✌️
He drives the 10th green and two putts for birdie to move to -25. #dunhilllinks pic.twitter.com/lWfRnbMt3R
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 6, 2024
On the other side of the vast divide that separates winning from losing, this was a remarkable week for the cosmopolitan Colsaerts, long one of the most interesting – and interested – people on the DP World Tour. The 41-year-old from Brussels, who speaks French, English, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and the mixture of French and Flemish common in his home city, was playing on a sponsor invitation having lost his card last year and plummeting to 695th on the world ranking.
In that, however, there are mitigating factors that have played their part in the Belgian’s struggles. Not least that there are the lingering after-effects of serious illness. In late 2021, Colsaerts was diagnosed with membranous nephropathy, which occurs when the small blood vessels in the kidney become damaged and thickened. Proteins then leak from the damaged blood vessels into the urine. There is no certain cure.
“The past couple of events I’ve played, I just showed up, really,” he admitted. “I played without expectations. I was torn between staying on tour or going into the [television commentary] booth more regularly. But playing the way I did here probably means I will play a bit more next year. Beyond that, I don’t know. But yes, I’m proud and happy with what I’ve been able to do this week.”
What that means going forward for Colsaerts is complicated. His non-member status this year means that he will only be able to tee up in the first season-ending playoff event in Abu Dhabi – where he lives – if he has earned as much as or more than the man in 70th place on the Race to Dubai standings. All of which will have surprised no one more than himself. Speaking privately to friends, Colsaerts has been talking more about his future as a television analyst and possible Ryder Cup assistant captain, a role he filled last year in Italy, than any lingering playing ambitions.
“Luke [Donald] will look at how the next few months pan out,” he said. “Then he will make a decision. But I’d like to think I’m on the shortlist. I loved it last year. How can you not? Play in it. Be part of it. Even watch it on television. How can you not enjoy the Ryder Cup? Even in a small role, it is an amazing thing to be a part of. I told Tyrrell in the recording area, the Ryder Cup team probably needs him more than me. These are valuable points for guys like him who have gone to the other side [LIV Golf]. Tyrrell is one of the stalwarts of our team. In the end, let’s not be sad.”
A mature philosophy that makes sense in any language.
