Breakfast Ball #54: European Delight

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Tyrrell Hatton wins the Dubai Desert Classic ahead of strong field to claim third win in the last 12 months

Tyrrell Hatton has always had an edge. Sometimes he uses it positively, but more often than not it manifests into frustration and anger. On the par three 7th hole during the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic, Hatton miscued a tee shot and destroyed a tee marker in frustration. Usually Hatton would carry that frustration through a round and let it affect his play on subsequent holes. However, since his move to LIV Golf, Hatton has played a lighter, more focused schedule and that seems to have also focused his mind.

“There were moments where I did get frustrated but I think you all know me well enough that that's bound to happen at some stage”, said Hatton. “I was pretty nervous on the back nine. I guess I just wanted it a bit too much.”

That desire to win has produced three victories since last June, when he picked up his first LIV Golf individual title. He followed that up with his third win at the Dunhill Links Championship in October, and now sits atop the Ryder Cup automatic qualification rankings. “This event and the four majors this year are massive for me to try and earn as many points as I can to try and be an automatic qualifier. This is a big step in the right direction. So happy with that, and looking forward to the rest of the year.”

Hatton’s main challenger was New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, whom he trailed by one shot going into the final round. Birdies on 2, 5, and 6 pushed the Englishman into the lead and he never relinquished it, following up with birdies on the 10th and 16th holes. Hillier did apply some pressure, holing a nine footer for birdie on the final hole, leaving Hatton with a 5-foot par putt for the win: “my hands were shaking. I was just praying I hit a good putt.” He certainly did. The putt found the middle of the cup, and Hatton went home with the trophy.

Hatton rose to 8th in the world rankings with this win, solidifying his place at all four majors this year and in 2026 without a steep fall off in performance. Since the European Ryder Cup qualification process began, Hatton has posted results of T18, T10, 🏆️, 2, 6 and now another 🏆️. That is the performance of a man enjoying his golf.

Other Results:

• 👊 Rory McIlroy got his 9th straight top 10 finish at the event, posting a final round 66 to end up in 4th, three shots behind Hatton

• 🤫 Tom McKibbin shrugged off any rumours about his playing future to post a 6th place finish

• 🇪🇺 Tommy Fleetwood, Bob MacIntyre, and Rasmus Højgaard all finished in the top 25

• 🔪 Jon Rahm missed the cut after a second round 77 that included three bogeys and two double bogeys

Sepp Straka wins the American Express by two ahead of Justin Thomas and Jason Day

By most measures, Sepp Straka had a great 2024. He made it back to the Tour Championship, guaranteeing himself access to all the signature events and majors on the calendar, and ended the year with three top five finishes. However, he never put himself in a position to win on Sunday. Many players would go searching for something to push themselves over the finish line, but not Sepp Straka. He always had the quiet confidence he was going to win again.

“I feel like I already had that belief that if I played my best I could win. It's easy to feel that way when you're playing well, when you're not playing well it seems like it's so far away, so just trying to manage those highs and lows I think is really key as a golfer, because the highs are really high and the lows are really low, so try to stay even keel throughout all of that is pretty important, I think.”

That quote typifies Sepp Straka and his approach to the game. He travels with the same people around tour, rarely has major equipment changes, and has had mostly the same swing since he became a pro back in 2017. It usually results in extremely consistent play, even when he moves to a new set of irons as he did at the start of this season. “I'm not a tinkerer”, said Straka. “Once I'm set, I'll play these irons probably the rest of the year without even thinking about switching.”

This weekend, Straka went into the final round nursing a four shot lead after rounds of 65, 64, and 64 across the first three days, which are played on three different courses. In a week where many players fell victim to the Pete Dye Stadium course (including this octuple bogey) which is used for the final round, Straka didn’t have a bogey until the 70th hole of the tournament, when he got conservative to avoid a big score and protect his lead.

Straka: “It's great to get a win early, it's awesome to get ahead of the curve, but it's a long year, so you just got to keep stacking good results and keep playing good golf.” With a mindset like that, his golf may take him all the way to Bethpage Black in September.

Other News and Results:

• 📹️ I would give my shot of the week to Keita Nakajima for an albatross on the 18th at the Dubai Desert Classic, but there is no footage of it (thanks, DP World Tour)

  • Instead, take a look at this clutch approach on the par three 13th from Sepp Straka during the final round that he converted for birdie

• 🌊 The Genesis Invitational has reportedly been moved from Riviera Country Club to Torrey Pines due to the ongoing fires in Los Angeles

  • While this move makes sense logistically given the proximity of the course to LA, it means that Torrey Pines will host a PGA Tour event twice in one month

  • Riviera is one of, if not the best, course on the PGA Tour calendar, so this is a really unfortunate outcome

• 📺️ Justin Rose and LA Golf Club easily took care of Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links team in the second installment of the TGL

  • The final score was 12-1, and the match lacked any real competition

Coming up on tour this week:

• 🐻 The PGA Tour goes to California for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines

• 🇦🇪 The Ras Al Khaimah Championship is the next stop for the DP World Tour

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