Tyrrell Hatton has made history as the first ever three-time winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The Englishman started his love affair with the event when he claimed his first title in 2016 before successfully defending his crown 12 months later, but a two under par round of 70 today earned him a spot in the history books.
Hatton, now a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour, went toe-to-toe with Nicolas Colsaerts at the Old Course St Andrews before a closing birdie saw him reach 24 under and finish one clear of his Belgian counterpart.
The 32-year-old had equalled the course record with a sizzling 61 on Saturday to earn a one-shot lead, which inflated to three after four birdies through his first 11 holes.
Winning at the Home of Golf is never easy, and the three-time Ryder Cup player had to dig deep after dropping three shots in two holes with a bogey at the 14th following a double bogey at the 13th.
Colsaerts birdied the next, meaning the leading duo were tied at 23 under with three holes to play and went shot for shot through the next two, leaving the destiny of the 2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship all down to the famous 18th.
Both players drove their tee shots just short of the green, with Hatton clipping an excellent chip to two feet while Colsaerts could only putt from off the green to eight feet. The Belgian then saw his birdie putt slide by, leaving Hatton to tap in for a closing three and become the first three-time winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood posted a closing five under par to finish third on 21 under, with Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Spaniard David Puig and South African Robin Williams sharing fourth on 19 under.
Hatton and his dad Jeff finished second in the Team Event at the Home of Golf, two shots behind Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen and Irish businessman Dermot Desmond, who triumphed on 48 under par after carding a better-ball 13 under par round of 59 in the final round.
Player quotes
Tyrrell Hatton: Pretty surreal to be honest. At the start of the week, the goal was to try to win the tournament. So, to be sitting here next to the trophy again, feels great, and relieved to get over the line. The last seven holes was pretty stressful.
It’s been awesome (playing with Dad Jeff). We are pretty fortunate. This is the third time we’ve been able to play this tournament together, and I think finally this year, my dad sort of settled down and he actually played some good golf. He played unreal yesterday, which was nice to see.
I know that it made it more special if we were able to win the team event, as well, but ultimately these are memories that neither of us will ever forget, and for me to win today the individual event, that’s the first time that I’ve won with my dad at a tournament. That makes it more special, and it was pretty cool that he had a front row seat for it.
I’m not surprised Nico (Colsaerts) played how he did today. I’m sure he feels he’s left some shots out there. He’s a fantastic player in his own right, and I know that maybe he’s not played how he wanted to over the last few years. But he’s won tournaments and he knows how to get over the line, and from my side, as soon as I got on to the 17th green, I saw that leaderboard.
That’s where, really, the nerves kicked in for me. As I played the back nine up to that point, not really knowing truly where I was at, so in some ways, it’s a nice place to be because you don’t feel the pressure.
To stand up and hit a really good tee shot on 18, and then that chip shot was — apart from holing it, I don’t even want it back. That being said, it was quite nerve-wracking standing over a 3-foot putt just praying that you hole it.
My last win was Abu Dhabi ’21 on the DP World Tour. So that was a long time ago. And I knew when I came back to play the British Masters and the Spanish Open last week, that I really wanted to earn enough points to be able to play in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from a World Ranking points perspective, a Ryder Cup points perspective.
I’ve been fortunate to play the DP World Tour Championship every year that I’ve had my tour card. Winning today secures my spot there. I’m really excited that I can compete in those two events at the back end of the year.
Nicolas Colsaerts: Yeah, pretty proud. I played well in this event before, but to be able to put a couple good rounds together, get all the way to the end, in a position that I haven’t really been in the last couple of years is quite good, of course.
When you finish like that it’s a bit bittersweet. But if you look at what happened during the course, the way it all panned out, it was probably 8, 9, 10, 11. People might look at the last but I could have maybe done a little bit better throughout the middle of the round.
When you have not been in a position like this for a while, you kind of forget how much it grabs you. You become a bit anxious but at the same time, you focus and get really, really tuned in. I was able to hit amazing shots down the last couple holes.
I have to give credit for the Tour and all the promoters that I’ve known over the years for giving me 15 opportunities or 16 opportunities this year to actually try to get a job back. I feel part of the furniture. This has been my life for over 20 years now. I don’t know, it looks like we’re going to go back on the merry-go-round.
Scores after round four
264 T HATTON (ENG) 65 68 61 70,
265 N COLSAERTS (BEL) 65 65 65 70,
267 T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 68 65 67 67,
269 R NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN) 68 70 61 70, D PUIG (ESP) 68 70 63 68, R WILLIAMS (RSA) 66 66 71 66,
270 H LI (CHN) 67 69 65 69, T VAILLANT (FRA) 64 69 64 73, J RAHM (ESP) 65 71 65 69,
271 B KOEPKA (USA) 71 64 69 67, M JORDAN (ENG) 68 70 63 70,
272 T OLESEN (DEN) 67 70 66 69, A NOREN (SWE) 71 71 64 66, N NORGAARD (DEN) 70 72 65 65, S LOWRY (IRL) 68 70 68 66, D FICHARDT (RSA) 61 70 70 71, D BURMESTER (RSA) 69 68 68 67, K KOBORI (NZL) 70 70 67 65,
273 L ALBERTSE (RSA) 71 68 67 67, A SADDIER (FRA) 65 70 68 70, D MICHELUZZI (AUS) 64 70 70 69, P UIHLEIN (USA) 69 65 67 72, Y PAUL (GER) 68 66 71 68, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 67 67 70 69,
274 C SHINKWIN (ENG) 70 71 66 67, A PUTNAM (USA) 67 69 70 68, P HARRINGTON (IRL) 67 70 68 69, J ASHFIELD (WAL) 64 69 67 74, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 67 72 65 70, J DANTORP (SWE) 64 68 70 72, R MCILROY (NIR) 69 69 68 68, M ROTTLUFF (GER) 69 67 71 67, S JAMIESON (SCO) 63 72 70 69, D HILLIER (NZL) 63 69 70 72,
275 P REED (USA) 70 68 67 70, J SMITH (ENG) 68 67 68 72, G FORREST (SCO) 69 68 69 69, C SYME (SCO) 67 67 71 70, M BALDWIN (ENG) 67 69 70 69, B GRACE (RSA) 67 68 68 72, J LUITEN (NED) 67 65 71 72, T CLEMENTS (ENG) 66 71 69 69,
276 M WALLACE (ENG) 71 66 68 71, F LAPORTA (ITA) 66 68 72 70, S JONES (NZL) 67 71 67 71, M BESARD (BEL) 67 67 71 71, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 69 70 66 71, R MANSELL (ENG) 69 65 72 70, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 64 71 68 73, T MCKIBBIN (NIR) 70 68 66 72, W NIENABER (RSA) 69 70 67 70, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 69 67 70 70, J PARRY (ENG) 65 71 70 70,
277 J SVENSSON (SWE) 68 70 68 71, T LAWRENCE (RSA) 68 70 69 70, L SCALISE (ITA) 69 69 67 72, R ROCK (ENG) 72 68 67 70, D BROWN (ENG) 67 70 67 73, C JOHN (AUS) 62 68 74 73, Y PREMLALL (RSA) 66 68 73 70,
278 J HARDING (RSA) 69 70 67 72,
279 M PAVON (FRA) 70 69 67 73,
280 S SHARMA (IND) 72 72 63 73,
281 S KANG (KOR) 68 70 69 74, A FITZPATRICK (ENG) 70 67 70 74, S S?DERBERG (SWE) 68 71 68 74, D LAW (SCO) 64 67 75 75,
282 A OTAEGUI (ESP) 67 69 71 75, K APHIBARNRAT (THA) 66 75 66 75, J NICHOLAS (USA) 68 71 68 75, S CROCKER (USA) 67 70 69 76,