In the week when a statue of Old Tom Morris was finally unveiled in St Andrews, it was surely the ideal time to make history in the Auld Grey Toon. And Tyrrell Hatton duly did so, becoming the first player to win three Dunhill Links trophies.
The Englishman’s birdie for victory on the 18th at the Old Course was exhilarating in its own right but resonated for other factors than his record-breaking treble in the glorified pro-am.
Granted, the 32-year-old also tied the tournament’s best-ever low mark on 24-under, but it was his status as the first current Europe Ryder Cup player to prevail on the DP World Tour that, in a wider sense, seemed to count more.
Especially as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rummayan, the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund and chairman of LIV, played in the Dunhill and along with Guy Kinnings, the DP World Tour chief executive, exchanged hugs and pleasantries for the whole game to see.
If there is, as Rory McIlroy hinted, to be some sort of peace deal announced before Christmas, Hatton’s one-shot success in the $5 million (£3.8 million) event – which as well as the Home of Golf at St Andrews, was also staged at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns – might one day be looked upon as the moment when acceptable crossover between the mainstream circuits and the breakaway league truly began.
Certainly the cheers and applause for Hatton were warm as he added the title to those he won in 2016 and 2017. Since joining LIV in a £50 million deal in January, he had fallen from 16th in the world to 38th and that was despite a top 10 in the Masters in April.
This, his second win of the year after his triumph at the LIV event in Nashville in June, means he returns to the world’s top 20 and the Buckinghamshire golfer must be giggling at the memory of all those experts who warned him when he jumped ship that he faced exile from the majors in 2025, as well as the Ryder Cup.
Well, here we are nine months later and Hatton is confirmed in the Masters and the Open and is eligible for Europe’s defence against the United States at Bethpage next September.
This was just further evidence that, should he not qualify automatically, Luke Donald will obviously select him as a wildcard as the blue-and-gold brigade try to win away for what would be the first time in 13 years.
Hatton is a quality ball-striker and on a tense day, when he witnessed Nicolas Colsaerts peg back his lead, he proved his ability to hold his nerve down the stretch.
“It’s the first time I’ve actually won the tournament with my dad [Jeff] here so it means a lot and to do it at the Home of Golf is really special,” Hatton said. “I’m trying not to cry to be honest. I’m a bit lost for words.
“When I made double [bogey] on 13 and then bogeyed 14 I didn’t realise 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 a leaderboard on the 17th green. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.
“I actually stood over the ball on the 18th tee and was like ‘Please don’t hit it out of bounds’, which is not a good thought process. Luckily I managed to hit a good shot and that chip shot there was great.
“To have a 3½-ft putt is quite nerve wracking and I was just so relieved when it went in.”
Credit to Colsaerts, the Belgian who made his one and only Ryder Cup appearance at the unforgettable 2012 “Miracle of Medinah”, for demanding that Hatton pull out all the stops. The victor’s final-round 70 did not begin to live up to his Saturday 61 – which tied the Old Course record – but these were far more difficult conditions.
However, Tommy Fleetwood still managed to shoot a 67 to finish third on 21-under, while another pair of LIV rebels, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, both came in the top 10. McIlroy was back in a tie for 25th on 14-under.
