‘That Hole Lives Rent-Free in My Head’: Tyrrell Hatton Expresses Disdain For Augusta National’s 15th Hole

Tyrrell Hatton‘s excellent performance at the Masters Tournament secured him a T9 spot, meaning the golfer will get a direct entry into the major next year. But this good news was overshadowed by Hatton’s unending hatred for the Augusta course, especially the 15th hole. The hole rewarded him four over par throughout the week, with one double-bogey in round one and two bogeys in rounds two and three. 

Thus, quite evidently, the ‘Firethorn’ hole gave a tough time to the golfer. Tyrrell Hatton then expressed in an interview how much he hates the hole, and how it is a frightening experience for him to play there. 

“I was trying not to think of 15 until I got there…That hole lives rent-free in my head. I hate it. I absolutely hate it. And I think it hates me with the scores that I end up producing on it. Again, I’ve played that hole in 4-over this week.” 

If Hatton didn’t have the bogeys in hole 15, then he would have been sharing the spot with Collin Morikawa at T3 on the leaderboard. Another hole that gave him a tough time  was hole 18. Hatton went on to make a single bogey on that hole on Sunday, and a double bogey on Saturday.  The golfer also got a bogey on hole 18 in the opening round.

Tyrrell Hatton was sad to have lost a few scores because of these holes and expressed his thoughts regarding how he would have played had these holes had been removed.

“You take them out, and it shows that I’ve played some really good golf. Can’t do anything about it now.”

Lastly, the golfer had to settle for an even-par score after the four-day tournament. But Hatton’s performance at Augusta improved exponentially over time. Where in 2017 he couldn’t make the cut, but with time, he worked on his skills and landed at T18 in 2021. Last year, his rank was 34 and this year’s performance was his career best. But this isn’t the first instance when Hatton expressed his dislike for the 15th hole.

Tyrrell Hatton’s Hatred For Augusta National Reverberates

Tyrrell Hatton expressed how he has struggled on the Augusta National course because of his golf swing. But the player was adamant on not changing his swing for a single course.

“I don’t think there’s another golf course in the world that I’ll play 25 times and only shoot in the 60s twice. It’s a really hard golf course, one that I’ve always really struggled on.”

He continued about how his golf swing doesn’t fit in with the course structure.

“It’s just more down to the fact of my shot shape, and I’m not going to change my golf swing or how I want to play golf just to try and get around one golf course. Around most courses, it’s fine. It’s just here, they just love having trees on the front left of tee boxes.”

Previously, we saw Hatton talking about how good shots in this course end up in the bunkers and hazards, and thus quite evidently, Tyrrell was struggling with the tree-fledged course more than any other.

About the author

Suchita Chakraborty

Suchita Chakraborty is a senior golf writer at The SportsRush. She did her post-graduation at St. Xavier's University. For a year now, she has developed a riveting inclination toward golf, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy being her top-tier motivational figures to indulge in the sport. She even lives by the words of the Hall of Famer, "You can always become better", which impels her to excel every day. Her strong suit in golf is covering the LPGA Tour, especially the nooks and crannies of the international event, the Solheim Cup. As a pastime amusement, Suchita also engages herself in reading about golf controversies. Her favorite pick is ‘LIV and Let Die’ by Alan Shipnuck, which covers the PGA-LIV beef.

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