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Give Tyrrell Hatton credit.

Despite, by his own admission, playing himself out of The 150th Open with a one-over 74 in round three, the Englishman fronted up to the media to play down suggestions of a mid-round rift between he and playing partner Talor Gooch.

It was reported on social media that the Englishman was frustrated by the pace of Gooch on the fifth hole, and that he wanted to “stomp” on the American.

According to Hatton himself, however, nothing could be further from the truth.

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“There’s no point blowing that out of proportion,” he said. “There’s certain shots that, if you’re in between clubs, you’re going to take more time and that was just probably one of those moments.

“For me, I had a solid number and I just knew the shot I needed to hit and so I just wanted to get on with it. That’s where that stemmed from. It didn’t put me off. I ended up hitting a good shot in there and had a 35-foot eagle putt.”

Hatton had been heavily tipped to contend this week given his excellent record around the Old Course.

He has won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship here twice and equalled the then course record en route to the first of those wins in 2016.

This, however, is a different beast altogether.

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“It was a disappointing day. I had a couple of weird shots where I ended up so far away from the hole and it’s really hard to two-putt. More than likely, you’re going to three-putt a lot from where I was and that’s what I ended up doing sadly.

“I couldn’t get any momentum going. Even if I did hit a good shot, it didn’t really lead to anything. So a pretty disappointing day. I tried my best. I’m hoping things kind of go better for us tomorrow. It’s a new day, we’ll go out there, try out best again and see what happens.”


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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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