'What's He Thinking?' - Hatton Criticised After Hitting Green With Putter
The Englishman showed signs of frustration on the greens at Southern Hills


Tyrrell Hatton cut a frustrated figure on day one at the PGA Championship and was heavily criticised on social media after he appeared to bash his putter into one of the greens at Southern Hills Country Club.
Dame Laura Davies was unimpressed with Hatton's behaviour, saying whilst on commentary for Sky Sports: "He's made a bit of a mess on that green, that's not good. What's he thinking?"
A fan clip was posted on Twitter of the incident, captioned "Very poor behaviour."
Another user wrote: "Watched this earlier with Harry my son how do I explain the behaviour to a 10 year old who loves the sport? He was gobsmacked!"
Another commented on a similar note, asking: "Is this the example we set to younger players??"
WATCH THE CLIP:
@TyrrellHattonWtf are you doing?Very poor behaviour.#PGAChampionship #etiquette #growup pic.twitter.com/hNpYcxgYjkMay 19, 2022
The World No.24 posted a level par round of 70 on day one, carding three birdies and three bogeys to sit five back of leader Rory McIlroy after 18 holes.
The six-time DP World Tour winner and 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational champion has recorded two top 10s in the PGA Championship from seven starts.
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Prior to the week, Hatton said he hoped to have a good week on the greens and said holing putts helps him be a "a little bit calmer on the golf course."
"Obviously I haven't performed particularly well in Majors over my short career so far, but in the few that I have actually registered some top 10s, I've generally putted quite nicely, which is typically a strength for me," he said.
"So it would be nice to obviously have a good week on the greens. Even if you're playing bad, you're still going to give yourself opportunities for birdies. If you can roll a few of them in, it feels like you get a bit of momentum going even if your swing doesn't feel particularly great.
"Yeah, me holing putts is a massive part of the week, as it is for other guys, too, but I think that helps me be a little bit calmer on the golf course if I can actually hole putts."
Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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