At the Betfred British Masters, Tyrrell Hatton has taken the wheel, but heโs got some pretty determined passengers riding his bumper into the weekend.
Hatton, the six-time DP World Tour winner, brought his A-game to The Belfry, piecing together a classy second-round 65 to complement his opening 69, giving him a narrow one-shot advantage at ten under par.
In those perfect morning conditions that make golfersโ hearts sing and fans’ jaws drop, Hatton lit up the course like a pinball machine, banging in eight birdies and only one bogey.
Itโs the sort of display that makes you wonder if heโs got a bit of GPS tucked away in his golf bag.
Starting his round from the tenth tee, Hatton showed early grit by saving par from seven feet on the 11th.
Then, he got the ball rolling with a birdie at the short 12th. It was like the Englishman was playing a game of birdie hopscotch, adding more gains at the 14th, 16th, and 17th to make the turn at four under par.
His hot streak continued on the front nine with birdies at the third and fifth. Even his lone bogey on the eighth couldnโt sour the round as he bounced back with birdies at the seventh and ninth to close out in style. If there were a soundtrack, it would be “Eye of the Tiger.”
Tyrrell Hatton:ย It was nice to see some putts go in today to be honest. I definitely hit the ball better yesterday.
But yeah, the big difference was I holed a few putts which was nice, and try and take that moment into the weekend now.
I think any time we get to play in England, fans always come out and have good support.
Yeah, I’m definitely enjoying that. As I said earlier, looking forward to the weekend. I think crowds will be pretty special.
But letโs not get carried away thinking this is a one-horse race. Three fine fellas are hot on his heels at nine under, ready to give Hatton a run for his money.
Spain’s Jorge Campillo, the ice-cool Frenchman Jeong weon Ko, and South Africaโs Brandon Stone are all one shot adrift, nipping at Hatton’s heels like hungry hounds.
Stone, in particular, was the story of the afternoon. He brought the heat with a blistering 64, which included nine birdiesโseven of them coming in a crazy stretch of eight holes. That’s not golf; thatโs wizardry!
Meanwhile, lurking just behind them, weโve got Tom Vaillant from France and Dane Niklas Nรธrgaard, both sitting pretty at eight under par, tied for fifth.
And donโt count out South Africaโs Thriston Lawrence, whoโs hanging tough at seven under and could easily make a weekend charge.
The Betfred British Masters has served up a proper spectacle so far, with Hatton playing the role of the star performer.
But the supporting cast isn’t here just to watch. With talent packed tighter than sardines on a summer day, this one is shaping up to be a nail-biter.
Scores after round two:
134 T HATTON (ENG) 69 65,
135 J CAMPILLO (ESP) 68 67, J KO (FRA) 67 68, B STONE (RSA) 71 64,
136 T VAILLANT (FRA) 69 67, N NORGAARD (DEN) 70 66,
137 T LAWRENCE (RSA) 68 69,
138 Y KATSURAGAWA (JPN) 69 69, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 72 66, J LUITEN (NED) 72 66,
139 H HALL (ENG) 71 68, J SVENSSON (SWE) 70 69, R ROCK (ENG) 70 69,
140 R H?JGAARD (DEN) 73 67, A WILSON (ENG) 69 71, A ROZNER (FRA) 70 70, A PAVAN (ITA) 69 71, M BALDWIN (ENG) 72 68, S FRIEDRICHSEN (DEN) 70 70,
141 T CLEMENTS (ENG) 71 70, M SCHWAB (AUT) 70 71, M MANASSERO (ITA) 73 68, J SMITH (ENG) 69 72, D BROWN (ENG) 73 68, A HIDALGO (ESP) 71 70,
142 A SULLIVAN (ENG) 70 72, G GREEN (MAS) 71 71, P WARING (ENG) 67 75, S GALLACHER (SCO) 69 73, D MICHELUZZI (AUS) 69 73, H LONG (GER) 69 73, L CANTER (ENG) 69 73, E MOLINARI (ITA) 76 66, S GARCIA (ESP) 72 70, P MOOLMAN (RSA) 73 69, J DAVIDSON (WAL) 71 71,
143 J WALTERS (RSA) 73 70, J DEAN (ENG) 72 71, F SCHOTT (GER) 72 71, M SIEM (GER) 74 69, K APHIBARNRAT (THA) 71 72, F LAPORTA (ITA) 70 73, C HILL (SCO) 72 71, J VEERMAN (USA) 71 72, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 70 73, C SYME (SCO) 72 71, T OLESEN (DEN) 72 71, O WILSON (ENG) 73 70, R RAMSAY (SCO) 72 71, J WINTHER (DEN) 70 73, S SHARMA (IND) 71 72,
144 G FORREST (SCO) 74 70, T AIKEN (RSA) 72 72, S BROHOLT LIND (DEN) 71 73, J GUERRIER (FRA) 73 71, M KINHULT (SWE) 72 72, G COETZEE (RSA) 73 71, H NORLANDER (SWE) 70 74, J DE BRUYN (GER) 77 67, M KIEFFER (GER) 74 70, M WALLACE (ENG) 76 68, D FRITTELLI (RSA) 72 72, M KORHONEN (FIN) 73 71, A FITZPATRICK (ENG) 74 70,
145 D LAW (SCO) 73 72, M JORDAN (ENG) 73 72, D HILLIER (NZL) 71 74, J BLIXT (SWE) 71 74, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 72 73, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 73 72, K NAKAJIMA (JPN) 72 73, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 73 72, R HOSHINO (JPN) 73 72, C HANNA (USA) 74 71, M ROTTLUFF (GER) 73 72, J DANTORP (SWE) 71 74, S THORNTON (IRL) 72 73, H LI (CHN) 75 70, H BARRON (AUS) 73 72,
146 D GALE (AUS) 70 76, S BAIRSTOW (ENG) 73 73, D BRADBURY (ENG) 73 73, V NORRMAN (SWE) 72 74, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 72 74, J HARDING (RSA) 77 69, J PRINSLOO (RSA) 74 72, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 74 72, R FISHER (ENG) 74 72, L DE JAGER (RSA) 74 72, N BACHEM (GER) 73 73, D FICHARDT (RSA) 76 70, A WU (CHN) 73 73,
147 P O’HARA (SCO) 76 71, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 73 74, S KANG (KOR) 72 75, E KOFSTAD (NOR) 73 74, M BESARD (BEL) 72 75, C BLOMSTRAND (SWE) 72 75, W ENEFER (ENG) 77 70, R MANSELL (ENG) 72 75, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 72 75, O STRYDOM (RSA) 76 71, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 73 74, K JOHANNESSEN (NOR) 69 78,
148 C SORDET (FRA) 71 77, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 75 73, M PENGE (ENG) 75 73, L DONALD (ENG) 78 70, Y PAUL (GER) 78 70, M DAFFUE (RSA) 74 74, R CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 73 75, F LACROIX (FRA) 73 75, D MOSTERT (RSA) 73 75, P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 76 72, D HUIZING (NED) 74 74,
149 T MCKIBBIN (NIR) 74 75, R GOUVEIA (POR) 73 76, C JARVIS (RSA) 70 79, F CELLI (ITA) 74 75, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 71 78, S JAMIESON (SCO) 73 76, B RUSCH (SUI) 74 75, I CANTERO (ESP) 77 72, A DEL REY (ESP) 75 74, J MORRISON (ENG) 75 74, J GIRRBACH (SUI) 75 74, S JONES (NZL) 72 77,
150 S MANLEY (WAL) 76 74, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 76 74, L RUUSKA (FIN) 75 75, J GUMBERG (USA) 76 74,
151 K KIM (AM) (ENG) 78 73, E FERGUSON (SCO) 74 77, A KNAPPE (GER) 79 72, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 74 77, T LEWIS (ENG) 76 75, J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 74 77, L SCALISE (ITA) 74 77,
152 D WILLETT (ENG) 76 76, M ELVIRA (ESP) 77 75, S FORSSTR?M (SWE) 69 83, R PARATORE (ITA) 82 70, M EGE (NOR) 75 77,
153 G WIEBE (USA) 76 77, J NICHOLAS (USA) 76 77, G CHEN (CHN) 80 73, S TARRIO (ESP) 80 73,
154 A ARNAUS (ESP) 75 79, O CHOUHAN (IND) 71 83, J SCHAPER (RSA) 79 75,
155 A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP) 76 79,
157 J BERRY (ENG) 81 76, N GALLETTI (USA) 76 81,
158 M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 77 81,
160 O BEKKER (RSA) 79 81,
**
OUT D WHITNELL (ENG) 79 RT,
