ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Tyrrell Hatton bogeyed his final two holes to tie the Old Course record at St. Andrews carded an 11-under 61, giving him a one-shot lead over Nicolas Colsaerts going into the final round of the Dunhill Links Championship on Saturday.
Hatton has already won twice at the European Tour event, which brings together professionals and novices from celebrities and businesses across three courses.
He is on pace to break his 72-hole tournament record from his 2017 victory. Hatton chipped his 7-iron to 3 feet on the legendary Road Hole 17 for birdie and finished with a 10-foot birdie on the closing hole.
That put him at 22-under 194, a low score that reflects poor conditions in St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns. Hatton holds the tournament record of 24-under par.
“I was taking each hole as it came and trying to make as many birdies as I could,” Hatton said. “I knew when I made the opening putt on 17, I had actually shot 10 under here before. I really wanted to make the last birdie. This is my lowest round of the tour, too.
“Nice putt and I’m thankful it went in. It was a cool day.”
Colsaerts had a cool moment of his own. He was at Kingsbarns and made an albatross 2 on the par-5 16th hole. His 6 iron bounded past the pin on the slope, stopped and rolled into the cup.
Colsaerts had a chance to tie Hatton for the lead until he missed the fairway on the par-5 ninth, his finishing hole, leaving him short of the green twice. His partner carded him a 65, still managing to win for the first time in five years.
“It’s very special,” Colsaerts said. “The albatross is rare.”
Rory McIlroy had reason to think he was in for a special day when he carded 29 at St Andrews with seven birdies in nine holes. He hit the green on the 4th 10th and was over 5 feet for another birdie.
McIlroy missed the putt and didn’t make birdie on the back nine. He had a 10-shot worst — a 39 on nine — for a 68 that left him 12 shots behind.
Romain Langasque had 61 for St. Andrews in 2022, and Ross Fisher was the first to set the Old Course mark in 2017. The lowest in St. Andrews for the British Open is 63. Pins are generally easy on Dunhill Links so don’t make it too difficult for novice players.
Golf power brokers — PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — will not be in attendance for Sunday’s final round in St. Louis. Andrews. Their teams finished well outside the 20 advanced teams.
The PIF and the PGA Tour have been in talks for the past 16 months about an agreement to make the Saudi sovereign wealth fund a minority investor in the PGA Tour Enterprises business, and potentially lead to the repair of the broken golf scene.
Hatton is among 14 players from the PIF-backed LIV Golf League playing in the European Tour event. They are banned from PGA Tour events.
France’s Tom Vaillant had a 64 at Kingsbarns and was in third, three shots back, while Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen had a 61 at Kingsbarns and was five back.
Tommy Fleetwood shot a back-to-back 67 that left him disappointed, especially because the Old Course is capable of low scores without much wind.
“When the Old Course is like this, if you hit it slowly, you can give yourself a lot of chances,” Fleetwood said. “Five under, bogey-free, it feels good. But it was a little frustrating. Well done to the guys who shot some amazing scores.”
Source link
