Getty Photos
As golfers are likely to do, Tyrrell Hatton hit a foul shot on the 14th gap on Saturday on the DP World Tour Championship.
It was not a horrible shot, or perhaps a very dangerous shot. Hatton laid up on the 14th gap, and his 9-iron strategy soared lengthy and left of the outlet, leaving a 35-foot chip for birdie as an alternative of the simple, makeable birdie putt he anticipated to observe an easy strategy from such an inexpensive distance.
And since the shot was not what Tyrrell Hatton anticipated, he reacted accordingly. Hatton yelped a brief, fast profanity, then reached his membership into the bottom — toe-end going through him — and plunged it into the earth. Quickly after, the shaft gave approach, snapping his 9-iron in half and leaving him with two shards of damaged golf membership in both hand.
This isn’t the primary time we’ve seen an outburst like this one from Hatton, who’s famously some of the hot-headed gamers in professional golf. On the Masters two years in the past, he publicly berated his placing efficiency, sharing his want to “bury” his putter after a lackluster week. Later that very same week, he criticized Augusta Nationwide extra broadly. On the DP World Tour Championship in 2022, he criticized one gap as having the “worst pin place ever.” On the Ryder Cup final fall, he delivered a hilarious — and blunt — evaluation of his proclivity for on-course profanity. (“Doesn’t matter what we’re doing. I’m swearing,” he stated with a smile. “F— off.”)
However, evidently, Hatton’s club-snap on Saturday in Dubai struck a chord with Sky Sports activities broadcaster Ewen Murray, who blasted the previous Ryder Cup star’s habits. Sure, as Hatton made his approach up the green, Murray popped over the microphone and delivered a skewering rebuke of the longtime professional’s on-course demeanor.
“It’s time for a change I’m afraid,” Murray stated. “He’s a horrible affect on the following era. I’m sorry to say it, I’m his greatest supporter as a golfer. We’ve all had our moments, however he’s having too a lot of them.”
Murray was swift together with his evaluation — TV tends to have that impact — however no much less skewering. It additionally raised an age-old debate amongst golf followers: Do professional golfers have an obligation to uphold golf’s ethics?
It’s truthful to say that you just won’t need your little ones repeating Hatton’s habits on Saturday on the golf course. (If for no motive apart from the truth that it might show an costly behavior.) However is Hatton within the improper for exhibiting his mood? Or, as some folks have actually argued, does Hatton’s hot-headedness add to his TV enchantment?
Take into account this: Hatton chipped in for birdie after his club-snap, so it’s not like he was adversely affected by the temporary second of rage.
We all know how Murray feels. And we actually know the way Hatton feels.
The query stays: How do you?