The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Best-defence cup target for Hatton
Tyrrell Hatton hopes to move closer to a place in Thomas Bjorn’s European Ryder Cup team by successfully defending the Italian Open at Gardagolf Country Club this week.
The Englishman arrived for the Rolex Series event last season off the back of a victory at the Alfred Dunhill Links championship and made it back-toback victories as part of a remarkable run of results.
Hatton achieved 12 consecutive top-20s on the European Tour in between the US PGA Championship and the Masters, including those two victories, with three World Golf Championships on that list of high finishes.
His stellar play got him as high as 13th in the world rankings and with a £5.2million prize fund on offer this week, a successful defence would have him back on an upward trajectory in a Ryder Cup year. The opening Rolex Series event of the season last week was a disappointment for Hatton as he missed the cut at the BMW PGA Championship. The 26-year-old was nursing a wrist injury at Wentworth Club but is looking to bounce back in style now he is pain-free.
He said: “Although it is a new venue, being back here brings back a lot of good memories. Hopefully I can put up a good defence.
“I caught a hot streak and it was certainly a good time to do it with the Ryder Cup points starting off so it was a nice start. It would nice to recapture some of that form again.
“Wentworth was a tough week. It wasn’t ideal preparation prior to that where I’d had a bit of an issue with my wrist again.
“I needed a cortisone injection so it didn’t really give me any time to practise the week prior to Wentworth. I was going in there a little bit raw.”