The Englishman revealed on this week's Sky Sports Golf Podcast that the incident left him "raging"
Tyrrell Hatton Reveals Anger Of WGC-Mexico Slow Play Warning
Tyrrell Hatton was in a dream scenario on the Sunday of the WGC-Mexico Championship – in the final group of a World Golf Championship event paired with the legendary Phil Mickelson and Indian rising star Shubhankar Sharma.
Although it wasn’t all fun and games, as Hatton revealed an incident involving a referee and Phil Mickelson left him “raging”.
Related: Lee Westwood picks 11 winners at Cheltenham Races
The Englishman implied on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast that Phil got preferential treatment regarding a slow play warning.
He told the Podcast how both he and Sharma were warned for slow play and Mickelson wasn’t, when it was in fact the American who may have been holding things up.
Hatton finished in a tie for 3rd and moved up to a career-high 13th in the world after the WGC-Mexico Championship
“Sharma wasn’t that slow, to be honest. He was fine,” Hatton said.
“But Phil, I feel like, was taking a lot of time. We’d had a warning earlier on in the round to speed up. We kind of did, but not massively. I’ve just birdied 14 so I’m tied with Phil. You’ve got four holes left to play, it’s sort of crunch time. We’ve all hit good tee shots on 15 and one of the officials drives over and says, ‘Phil, you’re exempt, but Tyrrell and Sharma, I’m going to start timing you.’
Related: Eddie Pepperell on slow play: nothing needs to change
“Phil goes, ‘Well, he obviously likes me.’ I was raging. Danny, my player manager, was walking with me. I walked over to him as I got near the ball and said, ‘Can you believe what this referee has just done?’
“That’s the first time I’ve been in that situation in a WGC,” Hatton continued.
Mickelson won his 43rd PGA Tour title
“Obviously I’ve grown up watching golf and Phil has been around a hell of a long time, and I’m trying my best to beat him, but I just found that slightly off-putting.
When I come away from the tournament, it’s frustrating that actually happened.'”
Related: 10 of the best Arnold Palmer quotes
Hatton bogeyed the final hole at Chapultepec GC to miss out on the playoff by a single stroke.
Phil Mickelson beat Justin Thomas at the first extra hole to win his 43rd PGA Tour title.
Make sure you follow Golf Monthly on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram