Tyrrell Hatton has expressed his dissatisfaction with the layout of the 18th hole at JCB Golf and Country Club which hosted LIV Golf this past weekend, calling for changes to be made ahead of next year's tournament. Hatton's criticism comes after he narrowly missed out on winning on home soil on Sunday.
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The 32-year-old was pipped to the title by a single stroke, losing to Legion XIII teammate Jon Rahm after making a bogey on the final hole. Rahm had set the clubhouse lead at 13-under-par and went on to secure his first victory in 15 months, while Hatton, Joaquin Niemann and Cam Smith ended up tied for second place.
A par on the 18th would have forced a playoff for Hatton, but his tee shot landed in the first cut of rough. Consequently, his approach fell short, landing at the front of the green and leaving him with a challenging putt over a ridge.
Hatton's first putt veered left, leaving him with a tricky 5ft slider for par, which agonisingly slipped past the cup, handing Rahm the win. The three-time Ryder Cup veteran was left regretting an unforced error earlier in his round from the fairway at six that resulted in a double bogey.
However, when questioned about his bogey on the last hole, Hatton argued that the hole's layout was unfair. He claimed that every player in the field would like to see it changed when the tournament returns to JCB in a year's time.
The 462-yard par four has a blind tee shot over trees to a split fairway, doglegging left before sweeping uphill towards a two-tier green. Despite landing in the short grass off the tee, Hatton's shot took an unfortunate trickled down the slope and came to rest in the first cut of rough.
Hatton made clear his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the shot. He said: "I've hit a perfect tee shot over the line that we're all meant to hit. I'd say probably the 18th is one hole that I think 54 players would like to see changed before we come back next year.
"I don't think the tee shot that I hit there deserves to be in the semi and I'm playing a guessing game if it's going to come out with no spin or with spin. Obviously, I guessed wrong and it leaves it in a really tricky position to two-putt, and unfortunately wasn't able to hole that five-footer to force a playoff. Yeah, it sucks."
Despite narrowly missing out on the solo win, Hatton's Legion XIII team clinched their fourth team title of the season, meaning he, Rahm, Caleb Surratt, and Kieran Vincent were rewarded with a hefty £584,000 in team prize money. Following up on his own earnings of £1.23million for coming in second place, Hatton insisted team title was scant consolation.
"It's obviously still pretty raw for me as an individual," he admitted. "It's kind of hard to put that to one side. Golf is generally an individual sport, and ultimately your individual results will reflect what happens within the team."
"I'm really happy for the guys to have a solid weekend and for us to win our fourth event as a team, but it doesn't change how I feel towards my own individual performance. It sucks to bogey the last in front of your home crowd to effectively miss out on a playoff. That's unfortunately the reality of my situation at the moment."
