Tyrrell Hatton has survived a late stumble to win the Dunhill Links Championship for a record third time at St Andrews.
Hatton, who had equalled the course record at the same venue with a 61 on Saturday, birdied the 18th ton the Old Course on Sunday to card a closing 70 and finish 24 under par, a shot ahead of Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts.
Colsaerts left a long eagle putt from the Valley of Sin eight feet below the hole and was unable to convert the birdie attempt.
Hatton, who also finished second in the team pro-am event with his father Jeff, said: “It feels good.
“It’s the first time I’ve actually won the tournament with my dad here so it means a lot and to do it at the home of golf is really special. I’m trying not to cry, to be honest. I’m a bit lost for words.”
Birdies on the second, fifth, 10th and 11th had given Hatton a comfortable three-shot lead with six holes to play, only for the Ryder Cup star to run up a double bogey on the 13th and drop another shot on the next, each time finding a bunker off the tee.
Colsaerts had also bogeyed the 13th but birdied the 15th to get on level terms, something which came as a surprise to Hatton.
“To be honest I actually didn’t know what the scores were from when we left the halfway house,” Hatton added. “There’s a nice TV in there but the first leaderboard I saw was on the 17th green.
“I actually stood over the ball on the 18th tee and was like ‘Please don’t hit it out of bounds’, which is not a good thought process. Luckily managed to hit a good shot and that chip shot there was great.”
Hatton’s victory secures his place in the European tour’s season-ending event in Dubai.
Tommy Fleetwood shot 67 and finished third, three strokes behind Hatton in the event that’s played over three famous Scottish links courses — St. Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie.
Cameron John, the Australian world No.1007 who had been joint-leader at halfway, eventually ended up in joint-54th position after a disappointing final two rounds, ending up with a one-over 73 on Sunday to finish on 11 under.
Instead, the leading Aussie became David Micheluzzi, whose final-round 69 enabled him to earn a top-20 spot, finishing joint-19th at 15 under.
Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and Irish businessman Dermot Desmond won the team event on 48 under par, two shots ahead of Hatton and his father.
Source Agencies
