Tyrrell Hatton had a relatively benign start to the WGC-HSBC Champions on Thursday in Shanghai. The European Ryder Cupper sandwiched a bogey between a pair of birdies on his first nine holes — the back — before lighting up his scorecard in a mix of birdies, pars and double bogeys on his incoming nine holes.
Hatton’s up-and-down day was perfectly encapsulated by a terrible break he received on the par-3 4th hole. Measuring 164 yards on Thursday, Hatton struck a pure iron that had eyes for the hole as soon as it left the clubface.
Perhaps receiving a stronger-than-normal kick from the back of the bunker guarding the front of the green, Hatton’s ball bounced directly at the pin with some force, striking the flagstick flush in the middle, but rejecting the ball from going in.
The tap-in birdie would move Hatton to 3-under par on his round, but things went south quickly after that for the fiery Englishman.
Hatton would go on to double bogey the next hole, par the 6th, birdie the seventh and then double bogey the eighth to move him back to even par for the day.
Never one to hide his feelings, Hatton took to social media following the round to vent his frustrations.
E 72 today, should have been way better than that!!
What I would love to do to the bunkers and 8th hole here….. pic.twitter.com/pYyf8G2slf— Tyrrell Hatton (@TyrrellHatton) October 25, 2018
Hatton finished the day in a tie for 27th in a field that is 77-men strong, eight strokes behind first-round leader Patrick Reed, who fired a bogey-free 8-under par 64 to lead by two.
