What happened at the Italian Open?
A day after turning 26 Tyrrell Hatton birdied five of the last seven holes to sneak past Ross Fisher, for the second time in two weeks, and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
The Englishman succeeded where the others just missed out, with a birdie at the 72nd hole from 15 feet to get to 21 under. He closed with a 65, the same as the Thai star, who had a double bogey at the 16th and two worse than his compatriot and good friend Fisher. Strangely in all three of his victories, twice at the Dunhill and here in Italy, Fisher has been in second spot.
Just last week Hatton defended his Dunhill Links title with a four-round aggregate of 264 around the Old Course, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns and he is now up to fifth in the Race to Dubai rankings.
“It was a battle with myself. But my caddie kept saying it would come in the end and it did. I got a hot streak with the putter, which helps a lot.”
Overnight leader Matt Wallace was fourth on his own after a last-round 69. Defending champion Francesco Molinari finished in a tie for sixth.
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Talking point
Hatton’s form going into Crans in September was six missed cuts in his last seven starts. After a bright start to the season in the States, and the win at last year’s Dunhill and top 10s in the Open and PGA, we all thought he was a bit more special than we originally thought.
Then he didn’t play a weekend in any of the four majors this year and missed all those cuts and we were all quick to write him off – not a genuine winner, too hot-headed, a swing that produces too many wonky shots etc etc
Now here we are with Hatton looking like he’s already pencilled in his name for next year’s Ryder Cup – he was 8th in Switzerland, 3rd at Close House and now a back-to-back winner. Here in Italy he pocketed nearly €1m and he is now up to 17th in the world.
One thing that changed in Crans is he had his mate on his bag to follow in the recent trend of having a friend as caddie rather than the experienced bagmen.
He also went back to keeping things simple having listened to too many opinions over the summer. Hatton isn’t technical and the new approach is paying off in spades.
Shots of the week
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Quote of the week
“I had a good feeling standing over it, even though my hands were shaking and my knees were shaking,” Tyrrell Hatton on that putt.
Best dressed
We are now coming into knitwear season and there is much to like about Eddie Pepperell‘s zip top. Wolsey are his chosen brand of clothing, other ‘ambassadors’ include Robert Rock. Generally speaking if you were going to go straight to the pub after the round in your golf gear you would and should be marked out as a wring ‘un, in this get-up you would get away with it.
Worst dressed
There is much to like about Kiradech Aphibarnrat but his choice of polo is far from it. The ‘test card’ look is unlikely to catch on and nor should it. There is also much to like about the 80s but the dress sense is far from it.
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Best tweets
It’s not going to change him..
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Sergio Garcia (70) and Austin Connelly (72) were reunited on Saturday, 18 years on from their first meeting.
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The Aussie on his nine-birdie 62 on Friday..
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Basic short chipping tips with Tyrrell Hatton.mp4
