Hatton chasing historic third straight title

ST.ANDREWS, September 21, 2018 – Weeks don’t come much bigger than the next two for Tyrrell Hatton. First he makes his debut in the Ryder Cup in Paris, then he returns to St Andrews to attempt to make history with a third straight Alfred Dunhill Links title.

No one had won back-to-back Dunhill titles until his success last year, and now he is attempting to push the boundaries even further.

Tyrrell, whose 24-under-par in 2017 was the lowest winning score in the event, said: “It would be incredible to win the Dunhill again. A few years ago if someone had said you could win it three years running, you wouldn’t have believed it. Hopefully I can put up a good defence.

“From what I hear, the Ryder Cup is quite draining, physically and mentally, but I’ve had two weeks off to do some good work with my dad, who is my coach, and get my swing into good positions, so hopefully I’ll be set up for a good Ryder Cup and for a good defence of the Dunhill.”

One of Tyrrell’s secret weapons for the last two years, amateur partner Jamie Dornan, will not be at his side when the Championship is staged from October 4-7. The hugely popular actor has film commitments and is not able to play.

Jamie said: “I’m sincerely gutted to miss out on the Dunhill Links. Good luck to my boy Tyrrell. Can he win it without me?”

Tyrrell responded with a laugh: “I hear he’s taking the credit for my two wins. My two previous appearances were missed cuts, so perhaps I can understand why. It’s a shame he’s not going to be there, I had some good experiences with him.

“It definitely had a positive impact on me. If you can play with someone you can get on well with, have a bit of a laugh with between shots, that’s helpful, because you are a team that week and having some team chemistry goes a long way.”

Will teeing off as a double champion make him feel like he owns the place?

“St Andrews is a course that I’ve played a lot since 2010. At the beginning with not a lot of success to be honest. The last few years it’s been very good to me. So I take confidence that I’ve shot some really good scores. We’ll see how Carnoustie and Kingsbarns play. The last few years the weather has been good which has allowed low scoring.”

Before he gets to St Andrews he will be a part of Europe’s attempt to win back the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris. A prospect which excites him.

“Since I was a little kid the Ryder Cup has been an important fixture, you always look forward to watching it every two years. I’ve always wanted to be on the Ryder Cup team. To make the team this year is very exciting.

“There are two very strong teams. It’s a golf course which the Europeans know really well. We play the French Open there every year, so it’s a course we are all comfortable with and obviously Thomas (Bjorn) will be doing his best to set the course up in the way that suits us.

“I’m not flying up to Scotland until the Tuesday, so if we are able to celebrate on Sunday night, at least I’ll have the Monday to recover,” he joked.