Hoodie-wearing Hatton sizes up a green jacket
He's perhaps more at ease wearing comfortable hoodies, but Marlow's Tyrrell Hatton will be hoping to pull on a Masters green jacket after taking to the fairways of the Augusta National this week.
The Harleyford Golf Club member heads to Georgia as one of the most in-form golfers in the game right now, having moved into the world's top 10 for the first time following his 'dream win' in the BMW PGA Championships at Wentworth last month.
The 29-year-old has shown remarkable consistency in 2020. Of the 13 events he's played he's won two of them and claimed five more top 10 finishes.
His trajectory would suggest he'll be in with a chance of lifting a major trophy fairly soon but, whether that comes on the most famous golf course of them all, only time will tell.
Despite this consistency, Hatton's record in the majors this season has been below par, having missed the cut at both the PGA Championships and US Open. His record in the Masters also leaves plenty of room for improvement.
To date his best attempt came in 2018 when he finished in a tie or 44th. It's likely he'll improve on that when the rescheduled event gets under way today (Thursday). It was originally scheduled to take place in April but was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
After finishing last season with a dramatic play-off victory in the Turkish Airlines Open, Hatton carried his form over the winter break. He claimed his first PGA Tour title with victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, pulling on the competition's red jacket, and last month lifted his third Rolex Series title at the BMW PGA Championships at Wentworth, an event he used to regularly attend as a spectator when he was growing up in Marlow. He held off the formidable challenge of Frenchman Victor Perez to triumph, finishing on 19-underpar. The victory was his fifth European Tour title, elevating him to eighth in the tour's Race to Dubai Rankings. In the past the 29-year-old has struggled to get a handle on his emotions, something he admits has cost him in previous events. But those emotions, while not completely disguised, are now under control and he heads into this week's championships looking a far more composed, patient and assured golfer.
"For me, 2020 on the golf course has been a very special year," Hatton told the BBC. "I think coming into a major, this is the best form that I've had. It would be nice to obviously win a WGC (a World Golf Championships event) and then a major. That would be very special.
“It is very hard to win tournaments and golf is a funny game. You have to go out each week, try your best, and some weeks work out better than others."
Last weekend he warmed up for the Masters by finishing tied for seventh at the Houston Open, again showing the consistency which will see him head to Augusta as one of the favourites to pull on the green jacket come Sunday evening.