AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters has not even started yet, and Tyrrell Hatton is already counting himself out. Yes, you read that correctly.
The fiery Englishman has made his feelings on Augusta National Golf Club very apparent in recent years, and let’s just say, he’s not a fan of the iconic Alister MacKenzie design. Following a 52nd-place finish in 2022, Hatton called the golf course “unfair at times,” adding “If you hit a good shot, you should end up near the hole. Not then short-sided into a bunker because of the slopes that they’ve created and stuff. Yeah, I don’t think it’s a fair test at times, and when you hit good shots and you’re not rewarded for it, it shows.”
OK then!
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In fairness, he was coming off a 79-80 finish on the weekend. Anybody would be understandably spicy after that. But still, we’re talking about a top two golf course on the planet here, and it ain’t two. Also, it’s just plain BOLD to talk like that about this club if you are trying to get invited back year after year.
Luckily for Hatton, he’s so good at golf that he does get invited back year after year, and he’s only manage to (somewhat) crack the Augusta code once in seven tries, finishing T-18 in 2021. In his six other appearances, he has two missed cuts and has finished no better than T-34 (2023).
Perhaps this is the year he conquers it, which would make him the first English winner of the green jacket since Danny Willett in 2016 and just the third Brit to ever win it, Nick Faldo being the other. During the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, Hatton and fellow Englishmen Matt Fitzpatrick were asked that exact question. Hatton’s response was, quite simply, peak Tyrrell Hatton.
“Oh, well, you shouldn’t ask me,” Hatton said with the microphone in his face. “I’ve got no chance. Ask Matt.”
Sensational stuff:
Hatton backers, it’s not too late to cash out those bets. pic.twitter.com/JAr1xZHMLc
— Sam Harrop (@sam_golf) April 10, 2024
Could be attempting to pysche himself out. Deflecting. Reverse mushing. Might be the chess move of all chess moves. Or, in a perfect content world, he blows up and torches the place in the post-round interview again. We can dream.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
