Sky Sports broadcaster Ewen Murray blasted Tyrrell Hatton’s attitude after an outburst on Saturday.
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As golfers tend to do, Tyrrell Hatton hit a bad putt on the 14th hole Saturday at the DP Tour World Championship.
It wasn’t one terrible shot, or even one very bad shot. Hatton laid up on the 14th hole and his 9-iron approach went long and left of the hole, leaving a 35-foot chip for birdie instead of the easy birdie putt he expected to follow a direct approach from such a reasonable distance. .
And because the shot wasn’t what Tyrrell Hatton expected, he reacted accordingly. Hatton shouted a short, quick profanity, then reached his club to the ground—the tip of his finger in front of him—and plunged it into the ground. Soon after, the shaft came off, snapping his 9-iron in half and leaving him with two broken pieces of club in both hands.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an outburst like this from Hatton, who is famously one of golf’s hottest players. At the Masters two years ago, he publicly berated his putting performance, sharing his desire to “bury” his player after a poor week. Later that week, he criticized Augusta National more widely. At the 2022 DP World Tour Championship, he criticized a hole as having “worst pin position ever.At the Ryder Cup last fall, he gave a hilarious — and blunt — assessment of his penchant for profanity on the course. (“It doesn’t matter what we’re doing. I swear,” he said with a smile.F— off.“)
But apparently footage of Hatton in the club on Saturday in Dubai struck a chord with Sky Sports broadcaster Ewen Murray, who criticized the former Ryder Cup star’s behaviour. Yes, as Hatton took to the fairway, Murray stepped onto the microphone and delivered a scathing rebuke of the long-time professional’s behavior on the course.
“It’s time for a change, I’m afraid,” Murray said. “He has a terrible influence on the next generation. I’m sorry to say, I’m his biggest supporter as a golfer. We’ve all had our moments, but he has a lot of them.”
Murray was quick with his analysis – TV tends to have this effect – but no less disappointed. It also raised an old debate among golf fans: Do professional golfers have an obligation to abide by golf ethics?
It’s fair to say you might not want your little ones to repeat Hatton’s behavior on the golf course Saturday. (If for no other reason than that it would prove an expensive habit.) But it’s Hatton in the wrong to show his temper? Or, as some people have surely argued, Hatton’s stubbornness does add his television appeal?
Consider this: Hatton was birdied after his clubbing, so it’s not like he was adversely affected by the brief moment of rage.
We know how Murray feels. And we certainly know how Hatton feels.
The question remains: How to do it you?
