BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

October 8, 2020

Tyrrell Hatton

Wentworth Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. 66 this morning, what were the keys out there in such tough conditions?

TYRRELL HATTON: Obviously it was tough this morning, and I hit a few poor shots, but the key thing was I recovered really well. Followed it up with a really good shot. That kind of kept momentum going. It was easy to make mistakes out there this morning, so I'm very happy with my round.

Q. Good stuff. Wentworth, when we come here, we always sort of focus on par 5s. You obviously played them fantastic. Is there something you work on in your practise days?

TYRRELL HATTON: No, not really. I think for me, I just feel pretty comfortable out on the golf course. I've been around it so many times now, so kind of almost has that home course feel and you just feel like you know it so well. Yeah, it was a nice start today and hopefully I can keep that going the next few days.

Q. Obviously too early to be thinking about Sunday, but you have two Rolex wins already. What would it mean to win around such an iconic golf course like Wentworth?

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, that would be special. This is a tournament I've been coming to since I was five years old. To lift the trophy here is a goal of mine in my career, and hopefully I can play well the next few days and give myself a chance to do that.

Q. Were you really coming here as a five-year-old?

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, my dad used to bring me up here. So it's like one of my sort of favourite things to do when I was a kid, so yeah, that's what makes this week so special, really.

Q. What's your first memory?

TYRRELL HATTON: Well, one that springs to mind is Vijay almost taking me out on 18 when he blocked me right and thankfully he just missed us and we're able to stand here today. (Laughter).

When you asked the first question, that's the first thing that springs to mind.

Q. Did he come over and apologiSe?

TYRRELL HATTON: I can't remember. He probably did but I can't remember.

Q. How pleased have you been with your performance this season, especially after your first surgery last year?

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, I'm pleased with how this year has been so far on the golf course. I feel like I've put in quite a lot of work off, it as well, starting to go to the gym and stuff like that, which is stuff I haven't really done previously. I think playing pain-free is an added bonus, and I definitely struggled with that for the previous 2 1/2 years.

Yeah, I'd like to say that that's played a part.

Q. And the Jim thing, any particular reason you decided to make the dreaded move to the gym?

TYRRELL HATTON: It was more for -- it wasn't anything to help my golf to be honest. It was just for my own benefit where I just didn't really -- I was always quite self-conscious person, anyway, and I didn't like how I looked.

Obviously being in a sport brand, you kind of want to look good in clothing. The stage that I got to, I felt like I definitely didn't. Just for my own benefit to make myself feel good, I kind of started in the gym and I've enjoyed that process, really.

Q. Was it a DeChambeau thing then?

TYRRELL HATTON: No, I don't think I'd be able to do that.

Q. How much weight have you lost?

TYRRELL HATTON: Weight-wise, I haven't lost a huge amount -- well, in the last few weeks, I've actually been home, I've probably undone a good bit of work I had done.

I think the strongest I've been is actually going into the US PGA and Memphis. Although I didn't play great there, physically, that was probably the best I felt like I looked and felt. And I haven't trained too much since that point. Not as much as we had done earlier this year, so that's something that I'll probably get back to starting next week. It's a little bit easier and take it from there.

Q. Do you think you'll play better if you feel better?

TYRRELL HATTON: Definitely. I feel if you're in a good place, like for me, if I'm obviously happier, I'm going to be calmer on the golf course and that's obviously going to help me, as well. I felt pretty relaxed out there today. I think that's just having my home comforts again. Eight and a half months away was a very long time, and yeah, I've loved the last 2 1/2 weeks I've spent in the U.K.

Q. On a course you like so much, has it been frustrating --

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, obviously missed the cut for the first time last year and I was really gutted about that because I love this event. I think, what was it, 2016 when Chris Wood won. I had a really good chance there, and I had not won on Tour at that point, and I think that was quite a big learning curve for me that day. I felt like I really needed to get off to a fast start and kind of settle down and I ended up letting that round get away from me.

I remember chatting to my caddie, if I was 2-under that day, I'd have won the tournament, and starting the round, you don't often think that when you're in the final group to shoot 2-under when from what I remember, the conditions weren't really hard. Just a standard day.

Yeah, that was kind of tough to take.

Q. You know how to win now.

TYRRELL HATTON: I think even in final rounds, you naturally want to get off to a decent start and go from there and build momentum. I would like to think that if I had that opportunity again, I'd give myself a better chance of winning. There's definitely no guarantees that you're going to go out there and play well. I'd like to think now that I've given myself that chance.

Q. Coming at the end of that massive run in America, did that play a part --

TYRRELL HATTON: No. It was I guess a combination of things. I didn't really enjoy the golf course. I didn't think the setup was great in my opinion. And yeah, obviously I was flying home on the Sunday night. I knew that I was finally going back to the U.K. and although it was a major, I didn't mind the week kind of going really quickly and I almost wanted to fast forward the week and just get home.

But then at the end of the day, I was still obviously out there trying my best, and I just didn't play very well, and that's golf. You try your best and some weeks, even if you don't like the golf course, you try your best and you still play well. But yeah, U.S. Open, I just didn't play well, and obviously didn't enjoy the week, either. It's just one of those things.

Q. A lot of comments about the fact that you look and certainly appear a lot calmer than usual when things weren't going right. Are you taking it out on the bag in the gym?

TYRRELL HATTON: Definitely not. I think it just depends. U.S. Open, I was getting pretty frustrated is, and I don't know if that's just like a buildup of eight and a half months away and other things, but like this week, I feel a lot calmer, and it's just nice for me to get home and be in my own bed for a bit of time. That's why I feel in a better place coming home if I had continued to stay out in the States.

Q. You allowed to stay home or do you have to come into the bubble??

TYRRELL HATTON: I can stay at home this week. Just once I'm at home, obviously I can't go out or do anything. But that's fine. It's nice to have the opportunity to stay in my own bed and own house.

It would have been annoying to live 25 minutes away and have to stay in a hotel for the week. I'm thankful I'm able to do that.

Q. What was the first thing you had after coming home?

TYRRELL HATTON: The first thing I did when I got home was bacon Sandwich, cup of tea, then actually we had a curry at night (laughter). Yeah, there's no place like home, so it was just good to be back.

Q. What's the gym routine? How often do you go?

TYRRELL HATTON: Well, it changes from week-to-week. Tournament week, I'll be in pretty much every day, but it's not like an intense work out. It's just kind of getting everything moving, a bit of flexibility stuff and just being able to feel loose, because tournament week, I don't want to be feeling stiff. I don't want my muscles to be sore, because that's not going to help me play good golf.

So on an off-week, the training would be a lot harder. But I'm fine with that.

Q. When did you say you started?

TYRRELL HATTON: We started in -- probably the start of January.