Tyrrell Hatton (-24) was crowned this Sunday as the true monarch of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The English golfer achieved a decisive birdie on the 18th hole to win the tournament for the third time. No one has won it as many times. He breaks the tie he had with Padraig Harrington at two victories.
Hatton suffered like never before to win as (almost) always. It was an extraordinary Sunday of golf at the Old Course in St Andrews. The wind joined the links party and highlighted how a course can change depending on the breeze. What beauty.
From 1 to 11, with the wind in favour, it was a haven of birdies, with prodigious sequences, especially the eight under par by David Puig in ten holes. No one will take away from the young man from La Garriga that wonderful feat of making six consecutive birdies in the cradle of golf and eight in nine.
In contrast, from 12 to 18 it was weeping and gnashing of teeth. Wind against. Uphill course. Night and day. Endless holes. Delicate shots. Bunkers emerged that hadn’t been on any roadmap the previous three days. You had to brace yourself. Suddenly, pars felt like birdies and even bogeys were welcomed. It went from a clean birdie battle to an exhausting fight for survival.
Puig and Rahm were the great entertainers among those starting far from Hatton. The first half of Sunday was theirs, especially for David. Spectacular display. It’s not just the eight birdies in nine holes, it’s that six of them came with putts of less than a metre. Astonishing. A coronation on the best possible stage. He reached -23, just one shot off the lead. Rahm, for his part, with a six under in ten holes, placed himself at -21, three shots behind the Englishman, also in the fight.
Definitely, Sunday was not going to be a triumphant walk for Hatton, as could be sensed at the beginning. The Englishman didn’t start badly, with two birdies in five holes, but he stalled a bit and things got very tight, with Nicolas Colsaerts holding the challenge like a brave man, Tom Vaillant knocking on the door with his grit and Tommy Fleetwood claiming his place in the dance.
It felt like Hatton delivered a decisive blow with two consecutive birdies on holes 9 and 10. He was three shots ahead. He dominated the situation. However, like many others, the way back to the beautiful clubhouse at St Andrews was a struggle.
That’s where Jon Rahm lost his chances, with three consecutive bogeys from 11 to 13, one with a three-putt and another missing a very short putt, David Puig, with a double bogey and bogey on 12 and 13, sending his tee shot into a bush on the first, Vaillant, with a bogey on 12 and three more consecutive from 15 to 17, or Neergaard-Petersen, with a double bogey on 14… Only Colsaerts and Fleetwood held on. In fact, Tommy was the best in this stretch of the Old Course, but he lacked the finishing touch with the putt to give himself a real chance to win.
Hatton brought Colsaerts into the fight with a double bogey and a bogey in succession on holes 13 and 14, in both cases after sending his respective tee shots into a fairway bunker. Blessed links with wind. The Belgian, without doing anything extraordinary, was saving pars, making good putts of less than two metres, and got fully into the fight with a birdie on 15. There he tied for the lead at -23 with Hatton. A new tournament began.
Both made good pars on 16 and, above all, 17, a little monster. They went out tied to 18 and that’s where it was all decided. Hatton and Colsaerts nailed their tee shots. Masterful. The Belgian took his ball to the valley of sin, a big hit, and Hatton was just a couple of metres shorter. The Englishman approached first. Sensational. He left it less than a metre for birdie. Meanwhile, Nicolas’s first putt was too short, about two and a half metres. A lot of tension. He missed it, Hatton holed it and marked his third in his personal account. Emotional hug with his father.
Finally, Hatton (-24) won by one shot over Colsaerts and three over Fleetwood. Five shots back was David Puig (-19), in a fantastic fourth position. Two consecutive top 4s for the Spaniard on the DP World Tour. Meanwhile, Jon Rahm (-18) finished seventh, somewhat redeeming himself from the missed cut on his first visit. A good Sunday also for Jorge Campillo (-15), top 20.
Hatton was scheduled to play the Estrella Damm Andalucía Masters in two weeks in Sotogrande, but a change of plans with this victory cannot be ruled out, as he has fully entered Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Final. There is a possibility he might withdraw. We shall see. By the way, Rahm has also practically secured his qualification for the Dubai Final. He will be able to play it if he deems it appropriate.
