Tyrrell Hatton matches Old Course record with blistering scorecard to stand on brink of history in St Andrews

It just gets better and better for Tyrrell Hatton at St Andrews. Add a share of the Old Course record to a brace of title triumphs there for the Englishman in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

An 11-under-par 61, which matched compatriot Ross Fisher’s effort in the same event in 2017, was the tenth time that Hatton had signed for 67 or better at the iconic venue. He’s already the only player to land this title back-to-back, having achieved that feat in 2016 and 2017, and now he’s on the brink of making history again by landing a third triumph.

On 22 under par, the 32-year-old heads into the closing circuit in the $5 million event leading by a shot from Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, who made an albatross-2 in his 65 at Kingsbarns, with Frenchman Tom Vaillant a shot further back in third place.

Tyrrell Hatton smiles as he lines up a putt on the first green at St Andrews during day three of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Picture: Kate McShane/Getty Images.

After a second glorious day out of three on the east coast - Mother Nature is shining on the event on this occasion after the weekend action last year was completely washed out - the likes of Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood are going to need an unlikely last-round collapse from their Ryder Cup team-mate when they head out on Sunday trailing the leader by seven shots.

Hatton’s previous best effort on the Old Course had been a 62 at the same stage in 2016. Out in 31 on this occasion, having eagled the fifth and birdied the third, fourth and sixth, the LIV Golf player followed four birdies in a row from the 12th with a sweet 3-3 finish, hitting his approach at the 17th to three feet then rolling in a testing ten-footer at the last.

“It was nice,” he said of his day’s work. “I knew when I holed that putt on 17 that I had shot the-under here before, so I really wanted to birdie the last. That's actually my lowest round on tour, as well. Felt like I was trying harder than I normally would for a putt on the last. Good putt and, thankfully, it went in. It was a cool day.”

In addition to those two victories, Hatton also tied second in this event in both 2018 and 2021. Oh, and he also finished in the top ten in 2022. “I think I struggled when I played (as an amateur) in the St Andrews Links and didn’t do too well on my first two appearances at the Dunhill,” he recalled. “But, since winning in 2016, it’s been pretty good to me. It’s a special place to play golf.”

South African entrepreneur Johann Rupert is the driving force behind the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which will not be taking place this year. Picture: Kenny Smith/SNS

Padraig Harrington, who achieved the feat in 2002 and 2006, is the only other player to have landed two triumphs in this tournament. With all due respect to those chasing him, it’s going to take a rare off day in the home of golf for Hatton to prevent him from rewriting those record books and land a seventh DP World Tour triumph in the process.

“I am usually pretty good at hitting it into the rough, so the fact that it isn’t as high this week as it would be for The Open helps,” he replied to being asked if he had any secret to playing well here. “There is probably no other course where I play as well and a lot of that is down to the conditions. They are always pretty kind with the pin placements at this tournament. If there is not much wind tomorrow, I would expect scoring to be pretty good again.”

Colsaerts, who shared the 36-hole lead, holed out with a 6-iron from 223 yards for his albatross at the par-5 16th at Kingsbarns, having started at the tenth. “Super special,” he said of the brilliant blow, which, all of a sudden, moved him into a four-shot lead before that became five when he rolled in a nice putt to birdie the next hole.

The wind was taken out of his sails by a double-bogey 6 at the 18th before that radiant smile was back on his face thanks to an eagle-3 at the third. By the time he’d finished, his card contained an albatross, eagle, four birdies, a double bogey and 11 pars but no bogeys.

“Got a little bit sloppy at the end,” he admitted after signing for a third successive 65. “Felt like I could have squeezed probably two more, but I squeezed a lot on my front nine on the back nine and, if you told me this morning, I was going to shoot seven-under, I would have taken it.”

This is just the 41-year-old’s 17th event of the season, having finished outside the top 150 in the Race to Dubai in the last three years. His last win on the circuit was in 2019 - it came in the French Open - and, as well as being a vice-captain for last year’s Ryder Cup, he’s been doing a bit of commentary work.

“Listen, I'm so happy to be here,” said the world No 695 with a smile. “I want to thank Johann Rupert (the South African businessman who is the event’s driving force) for giving me an invite six days ago to play in this. I mean, having no category and getting to play these events and play so well in them is satisfying, and I'm really happy to get a shot at it tomorrow.”

Others in contention heading into the closing circuit at St Andrews include Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, who, having secured automatic promotion to the main tour after landing three Challenge Tour wins this season, made 12 birdies in 16 holes in shooting a 61 at Kingsbarns.

Bob MacIntyre, who was disappointed to take 6 at the 17th before closing with a birdie from off the green, is the top Scot on 12 under, one ahead of both Scott Jamieson and Connor Syme. David Law, who started the day just one shot off the lead, is on ten under alongside compatriot Grant Forrest and world No 3 Rory McIlroy.