Marc Warren is top Scot in the pursuit of Tyrrell Hatton at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
The crowds may be watching his Fifty Shades of Grey film star partner, but Englishman is right in spotlight. By Nick Rodger
IT’S not often the golf writers get to delve into the world of erotic fiction. Our idea of a titillating read, is Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible. Here at the lucrative Pro-Am that is the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, though, the cult of celebrity means we occasionally have to switch our focus from lofted irons and tricky undulations to kinky blindfolds and riding crops.
“My amateur partner is Jamie Dornan and let’s just say we had some big crowds,” said third-round leader Tyrell Hatton, who was competing alongside the Irish star of the Fifty Shades of Grey film, the racy production that was supposed to do for intimacy what the Haynes Manual did for a bloke’s knowledge of the workings of an Austin Allegro. “Probably 99 per cent of those watching didn’t have a clue who I was.”
But Hatton continues to make a name for himself. It was tempting to say he knocked 50 shades of you know what out of St Andrews’ Old Course yesterday as he surged into a three-stroke advantage over fellow Englishman Ross Fisher with a terrific, record-equalling 10-under-par 62 which gave him a 17-under total of 199.
In his quest for a maiden European Tour title, Hatton is in a prime position to pounce today. This season, the 24-year-old, who sits in ninth spot on the Race to Dubai, has finished second in the Scottish Open, fifth in both The Open and the Irish Open and tied 10th in the US PGA Championship. It’s an impressive body of work and his superbly assembled card, which was highlighted by a putt of some 25 feet on the treacherous Road Hole 17th, underlined his talents. “It’s the best round I’ve ever had,” he added with a justifiable grin. “I putted really well and that kept the momentum going.”
It was a glorious day for golf at St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie, and Hatton certainly made hay while the sun shone. Fisher, the overnight leader, posted a three-under 69 at Carnoustie but was overwhelmed by Hatton’s rousing charge. South Africa’s Richard Sterne and Ryder Cup player Martin Kaymer both blasted 65s at a traumatised Old Course to move on to 13 under and 12 under respectively. Credit also had to go to Florian Fritsch, whose 65 at Carnoustie was just a shot shy of equalling the course record as he propelled himself up into a share of fifth.
Scotland’s Marc Warren also prospered over in Angus, four birdies in a row from the 11th helping him to a 67 which left him in seventh place and in a good position to post the big result he needs to safeguard his tour card. Warren’s young compatriot Grant Forrest hit a 66 at the Old Course and qualified for the final round on his professional debut. “I’m no longer unemployed,” he said at the prospect of picking up a decent cheque.
On cut day, one man saying more than a farewell to the tournament was Englishman Nick Dougherty. In fact, the 34-year-old was waving goodbye to the European circuit.
Now a respected TV analyst, Dougherty, a former Dunhill Links winner who was making just his second competitive outing this season, called time on a touring career that illustrated the giddy highs and desperate lows of this fickle game. Once burdened with the tag “the next Nick Faldo”, the Liverpudlian notched three European wins but the death of his mother in 2008 and a crippling loss of form which saw him make just one cut in 32 events in 2011 accelerated a downward spiral.
“I won my last tour event in 2009 but, having lost my mum, it was the most hollow feeling I’d ever had because winning didn’t do it for me,” Dougherty said. “I thought I’d feel what I used to feel and I didn’t. I never had a top-10 again after that.
“The crazy thing is, I kept thinking I’d got to the bottom of the barrel but then there was another barrel underneath it. This felt like the right place to stop playing. I won here, I got married here, as a kid I used to come here with my mum and dad for holidays. It’s just been a very special place.”
It could be a special place for Hatton too.