From the kid playing with a sawn-off club to £1.4m in a week...
THE INCREDIBLE RISE OF TYRRELL HATTON
After the latest heroics of tyrrell Hatton at the Italian Open, who could blame Harleyford Golf Club — the Marlow venue where he learned the game — for putting out a tweet for europe’s ryder Cup captain thomas Bjorn: ‘Shall we start organising a members’ trip to france?’
Here is the Dane’s short and emphatic response: yes, they should.
Bjorn is at the ryder Cup venue in Versailles for a ‘year to go’ jaunt. He knows as well as anyone there is an awful lot of golf to be played before he finalises his team.
But he has seen enough from Hatton with back- to - back victories over the last incredible fortnight, earning him £1.4million, to believe he is one of the rare breed who will revel in the hype and hoopla.
‘tyrrell has not only got a great chance of making the team but achieving great things in general,’ said Bjorn. ‘Performances we have seen from him are very special. He is turning into one hell of a player.’
Indeed, you have to go back four years and Phil Mickelson’s victories in the Scottish Open and the Open to find the last time a player won consecutive tournaments in europe.
Hatton’s victories in the Dunhill Links at St Andrews and in Italy on Sunday saw him return a staggering cumulative total of 45 under par for eight rounds. His scoring average was 65.9 strokes per round while over the course of 144 holes he registered a remarkable 54 birdies.
Not bad for someone who, during a long and frustrating summer, reached the point where he was wondering where his next birdie was coming from.
How did the incredible transformation come about? for the answer let us head back to the beginning, and a delicious twist on the time-honoured story of golfing fathers and sons.
How many times have we seen the offspring of golf professionals go on to follow in their fathers’ footsteps? from Peter Alliss way back to Justin thomas, taking in Davis Love, Jim furyk and Sam torrance, it has been a well-worn road to success.
In this instance, Jeff Hatton became a coach to teach 11-yearold tyrrell. At the age of 42, he turned his back on a career in management and did the coaching courses and exams. from that point on, he remains the only coach his son — who has just turned 26 — has had.
for the past 13 years Jeff Hatton has run his own independent golf business, offering not just lessons but club repairs and a bespoke club- building service that sees him make around 50 sets a year. On the wall in his small workshop is an early prototype club — a six iron cut down to size for tyrrell when he was three years old.
‘He started using plastic clubs when he was 18 months but we never got to keep any as he wore them out,’ said Jeff. ‘there were no alloy or junior sets around so I chopped up a six iron with a hacksaw.’
Hatton was just six and playing with the likes of his chum Jonathan Bell — now his caddie, and a pro in his own right — when Jeff noticed something different. ‘I remember a play- off for the Junior Masters at Harleyford and a few people came to watch,’ he recalled. ‘It was interesting to see how tyrrell revelled in playing in front of an audience, and how it made him raise his game.’
HAttON’S
first win as a pro at the Dunhill Links last year was part of a whirlwind rise up the world rankings from 121st to 14th in the space of a little over 12 months. then, just as quickly as he had become a fixture on leaderboards, he disappeared again.
A missed cut in his first Masters in April prefaced a dreadful run that would lead to him failing to make the weekend in five successive events.
Jeff had thought the days of teaching his son were at an end but it was clear his wise counsel and shrewd eye were needed once more. ‘It was about going back to basics,’ he said. ‘ While he was playing in America there were a lot of distractions, people making comments about little things wrong with his swing that turned tyrrell’s head.
‘It’s amazing how you miss one cut and people think it’s part of the game, but miss two and everyone’s got an opinion. He started hitting too many practice balls. that’s never been our way. We’ve always strived for quality over quantity. So, we worked calmly on the things we’ve always done, and certain positions in his swing. It was a hard time for him but there was a comfort factor in knowing it had worked before.’
there are shades of Colin Montgomerie in the fact long sessions on the practice ground prove counter-productive. Shades as well in the manner in which Hatton is fighting a constant battle with his emotions.
‘tyrrell met Monty when he was young and has always looked up to him,’ said Jeff. ‘they both wear their heart on their sleeve and show their passion. I know people sometimes have a go at tyrrell for his temperament, but isn’t it better to watch someone who’s a little different and exciting?’
One big difference between the pair is that Hatton leaves his frustrations on the course, and will speak to reporters after a bad day. His manager John fay said: ‘He’s just a quiet lad away from golf, and very humble.’
No doubt there will still be days when Hatton’s competitive desire gets the better of him. But, given his considerable ball- striking capabilities and a short game to drool over, it is exciting to think what he will achieve over the next decade on those blessed days like Sunday, when he harnesses it to thrilling effect. P.S. the original Colin Montgomerie is still going strong, at the age of 54. On Sunday on the Champions tour in America, he won his second tournament in the space of five weeks, holding off Vijay Singh to claim the SAS Championship.