‘Dubai win underlines divisive Hatton’s world-class talent’

Whatever you think of Tyrrell Hatton, there can be little argument over his status as one of the world’s top golfers.

Sunday’s brilliant victory in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic puts his name on a trophy that has been held by many of the game’s greats; Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els and Severiano Ballesteros, to name but a few.

The Majlis course at the Emirates Golf Club has a happy knack of identifying champions of the highest quality and it is fitting that Hatton is the latest recipient.

Yes, his tempestuous histrionics make him unpopular in many quarters. His self absorbed tantrums at the perceived injustices that are so integral to the game of golf often cast him in an unfavourable light.

Despite this treasured victory, Hatton displayed the very worst of his character in a third round 68 last Saturday when a marker on the seventh tee bore the brunt of his wrath.

Other observers are irked by his decision to join the breakaway LIV tour, taking Saudi money to put him at odds with the golfing establishment.

His inner fury was channelled into a composed and ruthless final round performance that makes him undoubtedly England’s best golfer of the moment. He slotted clutch putt after clutch putt to land this prestigious trophy.

The 33-year-old from High Wycombe has little margin for error while trying to fulfil lofty ambitions when playing on a tour that does not afford world ranking points.

He is certainly not one of those LIV players who has gone there to play less golf.

In the Saudi funded league’s close season Hatton has done everything he can to maintain his world ranking and keep him front and centre for Ryder Cup consideration.

Indeed, he may well qualify outright for the team despite playing only a severely limited DP World Tour schedule and without eligibility for the PGA Tour.

He has maintained major eligibility and this win has propelled him back into the world’s top 10 – a remarkable achievement in the current circumstances of a fractured men’s professional game.

Hatton won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews in the autumn, was fifth on the Asian Tour’s Saudi International event, second in Abu Dhabi and sixth at the DP World Tour Championship.

At the start of this year he was unbeaten for Great Britain and Ireland in the Team Cup – his participation another indicator of his deep desire to play a fourth successive Ryder Cup this September.

And then came his win last week in Dubai, achieved on a tough course set up with heavy rough, firm greens and testing desert winds. In golfing terms his 15 under par display was of the highest class – even if some of his behaviour was not.

It is little wonder that McIlroy insists he should not change his ways. They clearly work. “He obviously knows me well enough by now to know what I’m like and the type of person I am,” Hatton said after lifting the trophy.

“I mean, a lot of people don’t like how I’ll be on the golf course. Some people might enjoy watching it. But that’s up to those people to decide.

“The people that know me as a person and what I stand for, I think I’m a pretty honest person. It’s for other people to have their opinions. But I’m just being me.

Hatton deserves to be in the conversation when we consider contenders for this year’s four majors.

They start with the Masters in April. Danny Willett (2016) and Sergio Garcia (2017) are Desert Classic winner who claimed the famous Green Jacket in the same year.

Hatton, like Garcia, has often been driven to distraction by the unique ways of the Augusta National. The Englishman’s share of ninth last year was his best Masters in eight attempts.

But his game should match up well because he is such a consistent and solid ball striker, who possesses a very solid short game. These attributes should put him in the major mix more often than has been the case in his career to date.

Fifth at the 2016 Open is his best major result in 38 attempts but he has never been better equipped to improve that record.

“I don’t treat them any differently in how I feel when I’m playing on a Thursday or Friday and into the weekend,” Hatton reflected.

“You have weeks where you get on a run and you play well for a period, and for some reason, the majors haven’t fallen on the right week for me yet.

“I’d love this year for one of the majors to fall on the right week. But I’ll continue to do everything I need to to feel like I’m ready to go and play well at a major, and try and get my game in as good of shape and feel as comfortable as I can.

“It’s certainly not through any lack of trying. As we all know, golf is a pretty stupid game, how you can miss any amount of cuts and out of nowhere you go and win the next week. That’s all through perseverance and trying your best. “

This win came against a decent field and on a testing course which offer parallels with his 2020 triumph in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, which is still his best win to date.

As he says, though, this one “is right up there” among his finest career moments. It undoubtedly lays foundations for a potentially career year. “I’ve been fortunate to win some big events, and with a world-class field,” Hatton said.

“The majors are just that. So if I give myself the opportunity, then of course you have to back yourself to think that you can go on and win.

“And doing it on courses that are set up ridiculously hard, and even courses where the setup is a little bit more forgiving, you still have to go out there and hit the right shots and make putts.