Tyrrell Hatton made history by becoming the first golfer to win three consecutive Dunhill Links championships.
Hatton said: “It’s the first time I’ve actually won the tournament with my dad here so it means a lot and to do it at the Home of Golf is really special… I’m trying not to cry to be honest. I’m a bit lost for words.”
He added: “When I made double [bogey] on 13 and then bogeyed 14 I didn’t realize I was still around the lead. I just tried my best on every shot coming in and then I saw where I was actually standing when I looked at a leaderboard on the 17th green. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.”
Despite his record-breaking achievement, his birdie on the 18th hole at the Old Course was memorable for other reasons as well. The 32-year-old athlete tied the lowest score ever recorded in the history of the competition with a score of 24 under. However, his success as the first European Ryder Cup participant to win on the DP World Tour has given him a greater significance overall.
Recently, player Rory Mcllroy has hinted that a peace deal may be announced. If so, Hatton’s one-shot victory in the $5 million ((£3.8 million) event could be remembered as the turning point in history when crossovers between the breakaway league and mainstream circuits became truly acceptable.
More so, he is back in the world’s top 20, having won twice this season. Hatton is confirmed to be in the Masters and the Open. He is also eligible for Europe’s defence against the United States at Bethpage next September.
This serves as proof that Luke Donald will undoubtedly choose him as a wildcard when the blue-and-gold team attempts to win the championships for the very first time in thirteen years.
Tommy Fleetwood of England tied the course record with a 10-under-par 62 to take a one-shot lead during the Abu Dhabi Championship’s first round.
With this, the athlete said: “When you shoot a 62, obviously everything is going to have gone very, very well.”
Second-place finishers Dane Thorbjorn Olesen and American Johannes Veerman are separated by one stroke from Italian Francesco Laporta and the English trio of Tyrell Hatton, Paul Waring, and Laurie Canter.
In addition, Bob MacIntyre of Scotland finished at seven under, Rory Mcllroy of Northern Ireland finished at five under, and Alex Fitzpatrick, together with Matthew Jordan of England, finished at six under.
Mcllroy aiming for the win
To win a sixth Race to Dubai title, Mcllroy must place in the top two at Yas Links before the World Tour Championship in Dubai next week, which is the last tournament of the European Tour season.
At the Leopard Creek Country Club, Shaun Norris of South Africa won the Dunhill Golf Championship by a single stroke after a final-round score of 67, giving him a 13-under-par total of 275.
After starting with an eagle at the second and overcoming a double bogey on the seventh to establish an early clubhouse lead, the 42-year-old athlete won his second tournament on the DP World Tour.
Highlights of the tournament
Marcus Kinhult, South Africa’s Ryan van Velzen, and Englishman John Parry were all tied for second place, one stroke behind.
Van Velzen appeared to be in a strong position to overtake Norris at the top of the leaderboard and force a playoff round, but he lost his shot at the 18th hole, finishing with a 72 overall.
Furthermore, Parry was unable to maintain his pace on the back nine despite making four birdies in his first six holes, finishing with a score of 69. Kinhult of Sweden had a three-shot lead following the second round and a two-shot lead heading into the final round. However, he lost the lead after four-putting on the seventh hole for double bogey. In the end, he shot a two-over-par 74 for the day, despite his best efforts to get back into the game.
On 11-under-par 277, Spaniard Angel Ayora and Dutchman Darius van Driel were tied for fifth place but still had a chance going into the final two holes.
Dustin Johnson has rekindled the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf debate by asserting with confidence that if he had competed on the U.S. Tour, he would have qualified for the Ryder Cup team.
Johnson maintains his position and fuels the continued conversation about golf despite a less-than-stellar season, ranking seventh among 52 qualified players in LIV Golf’s standings, and mediocre major championship achievements in 2023.
Dustin Johnson shared; “I would love to be a part of the team… But to be honest, I haven’t really played that well, this year. But have I played well enough to be on the team? Yeah. I didn’t have the best year. Was it good enough to make the team? I think so. If I would have been playing on (the PGA Tour), yeah, I would have made the team…. Do I think I can help the U.S. team? Absolutely!,” in an article from sportskeeda.com shared.
The Ryder Cup with Dustin Johnson
A rising golf star named Dustin Johnson quickly cemented his place as a crucial member of Team USA’s Ryder Cup squad. Between 2010 and 2021, he made five appearances, winning two of them in 2016 and 2021 to amass an astounding 12 victories out of 21 games.
Johnson’s best performance came in the perfect 2021 edition, when he scored five crucial points in five games that were essential to the American triumph. Another noteworthy achievement was his outstanding 2012 campaign, which solidified his Ryder Cup legacy by scoring three critical points in as many matches.
Dustin Johnson stood up as Team USA’s best player during the legendary 2012 Ryder Cup, known as “The Miracle at Medinah.” He was a pillar of support during an incredible European comeback and led in accumulations alongside four peers while remaining unbeaten.
Johnson’s skill was most apparent in singles, where he won four of his five contests. He only lost one, to Ian Poulter, in 2018. Johnson’s Ryder Cup adventure got off to a difficult start, but he made up for it in singles by defeating none other than Martin Kaymer, the recent PGA Championship champion.
Following a thrilling three-man playoff at Wentworth, Billy Horschel defeated Rory McIlroy and Thriston Lawrence to win the BMW PGA Championship and earn a $1.53 million winner’s cheque.
After his victory, the athlete said: “I am thrilled, excited for the way I played. At the same time, I am a little disappointed. Rory is a really good friend of mine, he is a generational talent and he has been so close this year…I feel for him but I am also excited… There was a lot of luck on my side to get this victory today. I will give my all on every shot and grind it out and that is what I did today.”
He added: “That is what you have to do when you are not firing on all cylinders.”
Highlights of the match
After trailing three strokes at the end of the third round, McIlroy had to play catch-up the entire day. However, on the seventeenth hole, he made up ground with an incredible eagle putt from more than 46 feet away, taking the lead.
Lawrence was waiting to see how McIlroy and Horschel would do when he had the opportunity to finish with a birdie, but his putt on the 18th green dropped painfully short, leaving him at 20-under.
On the par-five 18th hole, McIlroy escaped a bullet when his approach found the rough close to the sea. He set himself up for a birdie by chipping it over the water, but could only manage a par.
Horschel nearly lost the playoff with a birdie on the 18th hole, forcing a three-way playoff in which he even chipped the ball out of a bunker to remain in the running. Horschel was devastated to miss the opportunity to win the championship with an eagle.
All three players ended at 20 under par overall. In the first playoff at the event in eleven years, Lawrence lost the first round after bogeying the 18th hole and reaching the water. Horschel and McIlroy then squared off for the championship.
After taking home the trophy in 2014, McIlroy was hoping to win it again, and he once again made a birdie on the 18th hole. However, Horschel held his composure and made history by becoming the first American to win the event twice.
At Pinehurst No. 2, Bryson DeChambeau emerged victorious from the US Open for the second time, extending Rory Mcllroy’s agonizing ten-year wait for a fifth major championship by at least one more round.
One of just twelve players from the rebel LIV Golf series in the 156-player field, the 30-year-old American frittered away a three-shot overnight lead before mounting a dramatic comeback from two strokes behind. He held his composure in a match of intense psychological competition that left McIlroy regretting a string of unforced errors in the closing minutes.
Over the final three holes, McIlroy missed two easy putts from inside three feet, including one from 26 inches for par on the 72nd, which left DeChambeau with just a four-stroke requirement to win the championship.
With his win, DeChambeau declared: “I still can’t believe that up-and-down… Probably the best shot of my life.”
In the history of the US Open, he became the fifth player, aged 30 or under, to win the tournament multiple times. He now stands with Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, and Brooks Koepka as members of these elite athletes.
Highlights of the game
Despite early misfortune and several poor breaks, DeChambeau recovered to save pars from drives that found a fairway divot on the first and a bunker on the second. After a bogey on the fourth, his advantage dropped to one, but McIlroy immediately regained the lead when, in the aftermath of what seemed to be a highlight-reel approach wedge shot that trailed all the way down the hill and into the native sandy region, he was fortunate to save bogey.
The clouds that provided cover from the 90F (32C) temperatures broke by the time McIlroy made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 9th hole, moving him into sole possession of second place at five under and one shot behind DeChambeau’s lead. The leaders continued playing despite the changes in weather conditions.
On the 10th hole, McIlroy eventually tied the score when DeChambeau curled in his biggest putt of the week from 27 feet for a second consecutive birdie, sending the crowd around the green into a commotion. With a well-placed pitch near following a mishit fairway shot and a birdie putt, DeChambeau surged ahead on the tenth hole, On the 11th green, McIlroy lined up a birdie putt and heard the applause from behind him. However, he missed by inches and was still one stroke behind the leader.
Shortly after DeChambeau made a stunning par save on the 11th hole, McIlroy made another difficult putt to reach seven-under and reclaim the lead on the 12th. Mcllroy struck a shot off the 13th tee that sailed into the pine straw to the right of the fairway. On number 13, DeChambeau came dangerously close to missing an eagle putt while taking his time clearing a drive into the natural area. He then cleared for birdie to go within striking distance of the lead. The leaders were tied at seven under par when McIlroy made a stroke on the 16th hole.
On the 72nd hole, McIlroy chipped and ran to within three feet after hitting a driver into the bushes. After that, he had to make a putt from 26 inches to maintain his lead, but he missed two more during the final three holes, thus giving the title to DeChambeau, who had to make a par from a debatable lie to win it all. DeChambeau hit it four yards from the pin.
The entire match was thrilling. At the end, DeChambeau remarked: “Rory is one of the best to ever play. Being able to fight against a great like that is pretty special… For him to miss that putt, I’d never wish it on anybody. It just happened to play out that way.”
