Tyrrell Hatton Thursday on the 7th hole at Pinehurst.
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PINEHURST, NC – Tyrrell Hatton shot two under. And 12 under (sort of).
To do the math here, one has to know Hatton, a fanatic, so to speak. That was the case earlier this week ahead of the US Open at Pinehurst. The situation was dark. The practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday were tough. Green was hard to stick to. Expectations were low.
Or higher, if numbers are your metric.
“I’ve been a complete offense, especially on practice days,” Hatton said Thursday. “I mean, I really didn’t think I was going to break 80.”
But there was a plan. He was practicing. At 10, that is, by the way, in the corner of the course here.
“I was like, that sounds about right,” Hatton said.
Then he left at 10.
“You really hit the road,” he said. “Okay, that was a good feeling.”
You know where this is going, except Hatton thinks it probably won’t. A few days later, during the first round of Thursday, he made a three-birdie, with a bogey 68. After 18 holes, he is behind the three leaders Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy. And he is twelve strokes better than his prediction.
Was he trying to think things through?
No, said Hatton. You want the opposite. His response was a moment of sincerity.
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“I mean, I’ve never been so happy when I was on the golf course,” Hatton said. “I tried to forget about it when I returned to the house where I live. Yes, I mean it’s hard. Like, right now, I can’t get tense, get frustrated, because I want to be able to play my best, give myself the best chance. At the same time, I have to try and prepare to accept that it’s a practice day. It would also be nice to have some good feel for your golf swing going into a tournament like this. I think we all know that golf is such a weird game, and things can change in a heartbeat, of course. Today I felt better, which is good.”
And here’s the weird thing:
Hatton thinks that Pinehurst’s cunning may be on his side, though his explanation is more Hatton-y.
“Yes, I think that somehow, as it gets more difficult,” he said, smiling, “a lot of guys lose their heads, it’s like bringing them to my level because I just lose my head every week.” They can kind of experience what it’s like in my head all week. But no, I mean, it’s a challenge. I did really well today, but I hope we still have three days ahead of us. It’s going to be tough from here I think. Think they won’t be too happy with five guys down.
“But yeah, I’m going to go out there tomorrow, try my best, try to be on the fairways as much as possible, try to hit as many greens as possible. See what happens.”
Another question.
After all, does Hatton believe in the golf gods?
“Well, I feel like there’s a golf god, I’ve got a little bit in the bank, good breaks,” he said. “Every golfer, we all think we’ve made a lot of mistakes with the breaks we get. Yes, I think I have a few in the cupboard, a few that are good.”
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