Hatton lets hat-trick slip

Tyrrell Hatton threw away his chances of a third consecutive Dunhill Links Championship title by appearing to lose his nerve during the run-in at St Andrews.

Leading overnight, the Englishman’s game held up through the first half of his round, but four bogeys on the back nine let in the fastfinishing Lucas Bjerregaard.

The Dane, whose five-under-par 67 earned him a 15-under total of 273 – enough for a one-shot victory over Hatton (72) and countryman Tommy Fleetwood (69) – admitted that he had thought victory was beyond him before Hatton’s collapse.

Bjerregaard missed birdie chances on the 14th and 15th holes, and finished with a bogey on the 17th, but claimed only his second career tour title once Hatton missed a birdie putt to force a play-off.

Bjerregaard said: “It wasn’t until the last few holes that I thought I had a chance. It was tough out there, the conditions weren’t easy and it never really looked like I was in it much until the end.”

The day began under the “shotgun” system – in which all contenders start at the same time because of adverse weather – and with Hatton holding a four-stroke advantage.

At one point he led Bjerregaard by six shots as he looked to become the first man to win three consecutive titles at the same European Tour event since Nick Faldo at the Irish Open in 1993.

Despite his game dramatically falling away, Hatton still had a chance to force the play-off at the “Road Hole”. But he rolled his 12-foot putt past the target, confirming Bjerregaard’s first tour title since his triumph at the 2017 Portugal Masters.