Tyrrell Hatton won his second Rolex Series title in thrilling fashion as he prevailed in a six-man play-off under floodlights at the Turkish Airlines Open.
The Englishman entered round four in glorious sunshine three shots off the lead at The Montgomerie Maxx Royal but ended it as the last man standing under the lights after one of the most dramatic days on the 2019 Race to Dubai.
A birdie on the 72nd hole handed him a closing 67 and a place in the record equalling play-off alongside French duo Benjamin Hebert and Victor Perez, American Kurt Kitayama, Austrian Matthias Schwab and South African Erik van Rooyen.
He had to chip-in to keep his hopes alive on the first trip back up the last as Hebert, Perez and van Rooyen were eliminated on the first extra hole. Kitayama stayed in the hunt before he was eliminated on the third extra hole, leaving Hatton and Schwab to fight it out under the floodlights for the US$2million first prize.
Hatton found trouble with his drive and was forced to lay-up, but par was enough for him to secure his fourth European Tour title.
Player Quotes
Tyrrell Hatton: “It’s so surreal. I mean, I actually can’t believe that I’ve won. It’s been quite a difficult year in terms of things happening off course, and you know, the last month, I feel like I really found my game again.
“I said to a few people on my team that if I was lucky enough to win again, then I would definitely savour the moment, because I think it’s quite easy to take it for granted, and you know, sport’s great when it’s going well, but when it’s not going well, it kind of hits home, so I’m absolutely thrilled. Obviously amazing to have Mick on the bag and he’s done a great job this week. I’m just so happy.
“You don’t think about the money, at all. It’s all pride. And yeah, obviously it’s a bonus at the end of it after a great week, and I’m just so happy, I don’t know what else to say.”
Matthias Schwab: “It was a close call. I had some good looks and good chances coming down the stretch in regular play and didn’t take advantage of them. In a playoff, it is what it is.
“It’s still a second-place finish, which is obviously not too bad, but yeah, at the moment, it’s not too great.”
Kurt Kitayama: “It was pretty fun. A little disappointed, but gave myself a couple chances. It’s too bad. To put myself right back in it today and to get myself a win would have been amazing. I’m pleased how today went. The ending was tough but overall, great learning experience.”
Final scores:
268 T Hatton (Eng) 68 68 65 67, B Hebert (Fra) 67 70 64 67, K Kitayama (USA) 69 68 67 64, M Schwab (Aut) 65 67 66 70, V Perez (Fra) 68 69 66 65, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 70 67 66 65,
270 S Sharma (Ind) 71 64 71 64, R Macintyre (Sco) 71 63 67 69,
271 R Langasque (Fra) 70 66 70 65,
272 S Jamieson (Sco) 67 68 68 69, G Migliozzi (Ita) 72 67 68 65, R Fisher (Eng) 69 64 68 71, J Hansen (Den) 68 68 68 68, P Reed (USA) 71 65 65 71, L Westwood (Eng) 71 65 68 68,
273 P Waring (Eng) 70 67 68 68,
274 Z Lombard (RSA) 73 67 66 68, T Pieters (Bel) 66 70 71 67, K Samooja (Fin) 71 68 69 66, M Kinhult (Swe) 70 68 68 68,
275 J Scrivener (Aus) 68 66 73 68, M Southgate (Eng) 68 71 69 67, J Rose (Eng) 67 67 73 68, R Fox (Nzl) 73 65 69 68,
276 S Crocker (USA) 71 67 72 66, J Luiten (Ned) 67 69 71 69, J Harding (RSA) 69 65 70 72,
277 N Bertasio (Ita) 70 69 70 68, J Campillo (Esp) 68 68 71 70, A Pavan (Ita) 68 69 69 71, A Noren (Swe) 66 67 74 70,
278 D Lipsky (USA) 66 68 73 71, T Detry (Bel) 67 66 73 72, R Ramsay (Sco) 68 73 64 73, T Lewis (Eng) 65 70 71 72,
279 S Hend (Aus) 69 68 72 70, R Paratore (Ita) 73 68 69 69,
280 W Ormsby (Aus) 72 68 69 71, E Molinari (Ita) 68 68 74 70, F Zanotti (Par) 69 67 68 76, M Kaymer (Ger) 70 72 69 69, D Willett (Eng) 67 66 74 73, N Colsaerts (Bel) 71 68 67 74,
281 F Molinari (Ita) 71 70 66 74, A Rai (Eng) 68 67 75 71,
282 M Kawamura (Jpn) 75 67 66 74, J Smith (Eng) 71 71 71 69, H Li (Chn) 73 71 70 68,
283 B Wiesberger (Aut) 71 72 70 70,
284 M Wallace (Eng) 74 67 69 74, G Green (Mas) 73 69 67 75, R Sterne (RSA) 70 72 72 70,
285 S Soderberg (Swe) 72 70 69 74, S Horsfield (Eng) 74 73 70 68, J Lagergren (Swe) 73 68 73 71,
286 C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 71 75 70 70, C Pan (Tpe) 73 70 71 72, A Otaegui (Esp) 69 72 72 73, A Quiros (Esp) 76 71 71 68, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 67 70 77, O Wilson (Eng) 71 74 72 69,
287 P Harrington (Irl) 75 66 74 72, C Paisley (Eng) 73 72 68 74, S Lowry (Irl) 72 65 75 75,
288 A Arnaus (Esp) 75 67 70 76,
289 G Coetzee (RSA) 71 71 77 70,
290 J Walters (RSA) 75 73 68 74, N Elvira (Esp) 71 67 71 81,
291 P Larrazábal (Esp) 72 70 75 74,
292 H Tanihara (Jpn) 70 73 72 77, S Brown (Eng) 74 75 71 72,
293 L Bjerregaard (Den) 71 75 76 71,
296 D Drysdale (Sco) 72 72 76 76,
298 T Yamac (am) (Tur) 72 72 79 75,
** E Pepperell (Eng) 70 72 DQ 0
