Tyrrell Hatton 'destroys' tee box marker en route to moving into Dubai contention

Tyrrell Hatton twice thumped the tee box marker in frustration on the par-3 7th en route to surging into contention for a first Dubai Desert Classic title. 

Hatton, 33, carded a solid third-round 68 to move within one shot of the lead held by New Zealand's Daniel Hillier (70). 

The fiery Englishman got his round off to a hot start when driving the green at the par-4 2nd before converting the 12-footer for eagle. 

He would bogey the par-3 4th but quickly get that shot back with a birdie at the par-4 6th. 

One hole later at the next par-3 7th, Hatton thumped the tee box marker not once but twice as his ball found the middle of the green. 

"He's just destroyed one of the tee markers," Sky Sports Golf commentator Laura Davies said in the commentary box. 

"There's one more group coming through."

Fellow Sky Sports Golf commentator David Howell added: "Put me down for 5,000."

Hatton went on to two-putt for par.

He then made consecutive bogeys at the 8th and 9th but would get those dropped shots back at the 10th and 11th.

Hatton then went on to birdie the 16th and 18th to card a round of 68 and haul himself into solo second on 12-under par. 

He was later questioned by tournament officials in the scorer's hut after the round following his actions on the 7th tee. 

When pressed for comment by a pool of reporters as to why he thumped the tee box, Hatton replied: "It was just a bit of frustration."

He added: "I probably shouldn’t have done it. Does it make me a bad person? No. It’s just a spur of the moment thing and it happened. I can’t go back and change it, so move on.

"I was told about it in scoring. I don’t have an issue with what was being said. I’m aware that it’s not the right thing to do but in the heat of the moment when you’re frustrated, you just do things that you probably wish you didn’t do.

"I’m not going to let it bother me for the rest of the day. If that’s the worst thing I do as a human, then, I mean, it’s not that bad."

Hatton is seeking an eighth DP World Tour title and a first ever win at the Dubai Desert Classic.

The LIV Golf star is currently ranked third in the European Ryder Cup standings.

Hatton has made it no secret that he intends to make the automatic top six in the standings despite all LIV Golf League events remaining shut out of receiving valuable points. 

The European Ryder Cup star was let back onto the DP World Tour in September 2024 having appealed his fines for joining LIV Golf last season. 

Hatton is yet to learn when his appeal will be heard as he attempts to play his way into Luke Donald's 2025 European Ryder Cup team. 

Keep up to date with live scores from the Dubai Desert Classic here.

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