Tyrrell Hatton gave new meaning to golfing term ‘holes out’ when he attacked a tee marker at the seventh hole on day three of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
The reigning Dunhill Links champion played a poor tee shot at the 191-yard, par-3 hole that landed some 50-foot right of the flag.
Hatton then turned and with his first swipe at the tee maker rather tame while the second put a hole in the marker and will surely result in the LIV player being fined.
Golfing colleague and Guardian correspondent Ewan Murray then went out to take a shot the marker …. See @TourMiss X post hereunder)
Hatton said: “Just a bit of frustration.
HATTON ‘HOLES OUT’, FACING TOUR FINE …..
@TyrrellHatton smashes hole in @DubaiDCGolf 7th hole @EmiratesGC tee-marker
“If that’s the worst thing I do as a human, then, I mean, it’s not that bad” he says.
✅ @TOURMISS @Record_Sport pic.twitter.com/i1PKD0KA2G
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) January 18, 2025
“I probably shouldn’t have done it. Does it make me a bad person? No. It’s just a spur of the moment thing and it happened. I can’t go back and change it, so we move on”.
Hatton, who had began his round in holing a nine-foot eagle ‘2’ putt at the par-4 second hole, moved-on to bogey the eighth and ninth holes before bouncing back with birdies at 10 and 11 and then 16 and the last in a round of 68 to be in second place at 12-under and only one back of Kiwi Kevin Hillier.
However, waiting for Hatton after his round was a Tour rules waiting for him to advise he would be fined for his actions.
“I was told about the fine in scoring”, said Hatton.
“I don’t have an issue with what was being said. I mean, yeah, I’m aware that it’s not the right thing to do, but I mean, in the heat of the moment when you’re frustrated, you just do things that you probably wish you didn’t do.
“But I’m not going to let it bother me for the rest of the day. I mean, if that’s the worst thing I do as a human, then, I mean, it’s not that bad”.
