"Here we are"- LIV Golf's Tyrrell Hatton ties Rory McIlroy for lead of the DP World Tour Championship
English golfer Tyrrell Hatton is tied with Rory McIlroy after the culmination of round 1 at the ongoing DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. Both the players carded 5-under to settle on the top spot on Thursday.
McIlroy was the Race to Dubai leader going into the finale event and is touted to win the season-long standings. He is also one of the favorites to win the DP World Tour Championship. Hatton has proved himself to be a tough competition as well.
"To be honest I feel like the score was better than it felt. I felt I was tinkering over most tee shots and at times, I felt like my misses were bigger than perhaps they have been over the last month or so, month and a half."
"But at the end of the day, to shoot 5-under, you have to, I guess, play fairly solid golf. And in my head, I don't really know what that is. But here we are," Tyrrell Hatton said (via ASAP Sports).
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner Paul Waring is trailing McIlroy and Hatton with a 4-under score in the first round.
"You need a little bit of luck"- Tyrrell Hatton on why performances are "not quite coming off" this year in the DP World Tour Championship
Generally, big events like the DP World Tour Championship see scores in low 60s or mid 60s during the first round. However, this year, the scores are higher than expected.
Tyrrell Hatton was asked why that was the case. He answered by saying (via ASAP Sports):
"There's probably a few things. I don't know how the weather has been over here but the greens are definitely slower than they have been in the past. Because they are slower, the grain probably takes the ball a little bit more so they don't roll maybe as good as they have done previously and the fairways are a little bit weird, as well. I know the rough such, which if you do miss the fairways, it's hard."
Given the circumstances, Hatton believes that one also needs luck to hit a good distance at the Jumeirah Golf Estate this year.
"But the fairways are quite awkward to play off, even on the last, I hit a nice wedge shot and I got a flyer off the fairway. You're not really playing for that. So I think you need a little bit of luck in terms of how we expect our distances to be, and I guess it's not quite coming off as we think."
The prize purse for the season-ending event is a staggering $10 million. Although it is dwarfed in comparison to the prize purses for PGA Tour events, the Championship is an important opportunity for golfers to get a PGA Tour card for next season.