Hatton wins his third Alfred Dunhill Links trophy at St Andrews

Tyrrell Hatton with his Alfred Dunhill Links Championship trophy at St Andrews on Sunday. Image courtesy alfreddunhilllinks.com.

By Rahul Banerji

LIV Golf star Tyrrell Hatton won a record-setting third Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the Old Course at St Andrew’s on Sunday.

The Legion XIII golfer sank a four-foot birdie putt on the 18^th green to beat Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, after they had battled all the way, the tournament’s organiser said.

It added to the Ryder Cup stalwart’s titles from 2016 and 2017, making him the first to three wins at the $5 million celebrity Pro-Am, team and individual event.

The burly Englishman and his father, Jeff Hatton finished second in the team event as well, losing out by two shots to Thorbjorn Olesen and Dermot Desmond.

“It feels good.” Hatton said. “This is the first time I’ve actually won the tournament with my dad here, so it means a lot. And to do it at the Home of Golf is really special.

“It’s hard to describe. At the start of the week, the goal was to try to win the tournament. So to be sitting here next to the trophy again, feels great, and I was relieved to get over the line.

“The last seven holes were pretty stressful. To hit a nice tee shot down 15 and a good 7-iron in there settled me down a little bit.

“Playing alongside my dad has been awesome. We are pretty fortunate. This is the third time we’ve been able to play this tournament together, and I think finally this year, my dad sort of settled down and he actually played some good golf.

“He played unreal yesterday, which was nice to see,” Hatton added.

Tough battle

Starting with a one-shot lead over Colsaerts, Hatton could not repeat the brilliant golf of Saturday’s third round that tied the course record at St Andrews but was relentless over the closing 18 holes.

Hatton had problems on the par-4 hole 13 where he had a double bogey after driving into a bunker, and again at the par five 14^th, where he ended up with bogey.

The counter that, he had five birdies, including the winning one on 18 to give himself a two-under-par 70 card and a 24-under-par total of 264.

Challengers came and went on Sunday including France’s Tom Vaillant who reached 22-under before fading away.

Fellow LIV Golf member David Puig of Spain got to 23-under before a double bogey on 12 and a visit to the Road Hole bunker ended his hopes.

But Colsaerts dogged Hatton all the way home.

It also looked like Tommy Fleetwood might pose a threat too but a couple of short birdie putts refused to drop and when his second shot at the 18^th ran back into the Valley of Sin, his challenge was over;

Fleetwood finished with a 67 for a 21-under-par total, leaving it to Hatton and Colsaerts to fight it out for the handsome trophy.

Happy finisher

Colsaerts, who returned to tournament play after a couple of years on the sidelines with a kidney issue and was playing on invitation, said: “It’s a bit bittersweet, but I’m pretty proud.

“I’ve played well in this event before, but to be able to put a couple of good rounds together in a position that I haven’t really been in the last couple of years is quite good. I was able to hit some amazing shots down the last couple of holes.

“I’m so happy to be here. I want to thank Johann Rupert for giving me an invite to this six days ago. Having no category and getting to play these events and play so well in them is satisfying, and I was really happy to get a shot at it.”

Irish financier Desmond has played in every Alfred Dunhill Links but one since the tournament’s inception in 2001, and has won the team event once before.

He, however, admitted that “the nerves were jumping all over the place” down the Old Course’s 18^th hole before he and Olesen emerged as champions with a 13 under par 59 in tricky conditions on Sunday to finish two clear of the Hattons’ total of 48 under.

Test of nerve

“When you’re playing the 18^th and walking over the Swilken Bridge knowing that you have to make a score, there are real nerves,” he said.

“Luckily, Thorbjorn holed a brilliant birdie putt on that last hole to stretch our lead further and it wasn’t me facing a downhill four-footer! And thankfully no one could get past our final score.

“I won the team event in 2010 with Robert Karlsson as my professional partner and that was a very proud moment,” added Desmond.

“But I am in my 70s now and so I am even more proud of this one, particularly after walking around 72 holes over these four days.

Other notable amateurs who qualified for Sunday’s round were former Wales, Tottenham and Real Madrid footballer Gareth Bale, who finished on 35-under-par alongside English professional Daniel Brown, rock star Huey Lewis, and Hollywood comic Bill Murray.

Also read: Hatton ties course record for Alfred Dunhill Links 54-hole lead