Exhausted Hatton (62) shocks self with 'mad day' putting

Tyrrell Hatton rolled in a 96-foot eagle putt on his final hole Friday at The Sentry, an appropriate finish for someone who took an elongated route to reach Hawaii.

Hatton said it took him 25-and-a-half hours, door to door, to get from England to Maui. His trip included a start at Heathrow Airport, a 3-hour layover in Los Angeles, and technical problems and a flight change before crossing the Pacific.

“Just very stiff,” Hatton said of his body, before adding with a smile, “I wouldn't say I looked after myself in the December period, maybe that played a part. Yeah, so body hasn't been moving well.”

To his surprise it moved well enough to tie his career low round on the PGA Tour, a 62 on the par-73 Plantation course that moved him one off Scottie Scheffler’s (64) lead at Kapalua Resort.

In addition to his eagle finish, Hatton made birdie on Nos. 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17.

“I guess it shows how much of a stupid game it is,” he said. “Obviously, I putted amazing today, that's the big thing for how my score ended up as low as it was. Yeah, with how bad my body felt, I'm surprised that – going out this morning, that score was just not even entering my mind. It's more probably like over, over par.”

Hatton has had plenty of down time over the last few months, having played just one event since the Ryder Cup. But his schedule has now done a 180.

“Yeah, pray for my body these next six weeks because I'm playing Sony next week, and flying straight from there to Dubai, and Dubai for six days, and flying back to Orlando for five days, before flying back to West Coast,” Hatton said. “I mean, I'm a plank of wood as it is, by the end of that trip it's going to be brutal.”

After opening in 69, Hatton’s surprise surge has him in contention for his first PGA Tour win since the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational. He’s in the field this week because he finished inside the top 50 in last year’s FedExCup points.

“I had a mad day on the greens,” Hatton said. “Every putt I seemed to look at went in, which is a nice feeling. Hopefully that continues over the weekend.”