THE RYDER CUP

September 23, 2021

Tyrell Hatton

Whistling Straits

Press Conference

JOHN DEVER: Good morning. Welcome back to the 43rd Ryder Cup here at Whistling Straits. We are here with Tyrrell Hatton. Welcome to your second career Ryder Cup.

Just wanted to ask you, where is there more comfort for you? Was it as a rookie on home soil in Paris over there in Europe or being more of an established player here on the road? Where do you feel more comfortable as you came into The Ryder Cup experience?

TYRELL HATTON: Well, I think obviously in two different places in my career. Obviously Paris was an amazing experience. I was obviously pleased to make this Ryder Cup Team to I guess prove to myself that I can -- wasn't like a once-off. It's a special team to be a part of and we're looking forward to the week ahead.

Q. How do you view Poults and what makes him tick for the team and all he's done for The Ryder Cup?

TYRELL HATTON: Obviously he's a huge part of Team Europe. Obviously very passionate and has a great Ryder Cup record, and like you said, yeah, he's a massively important part of this team.

Q. If you were an opponent of his, could you imagine how when he gets on those rolls and he's dropping those long putts and whatnot, how that can affect the other side to some degree, maybe get under his skin?

TYRELL HATTON: I think momentum in match play is a huge thing and moments like that can turn the match around or kind of get you going to go on and hopefully win a point. Poults has been very good over the years at holing a chip shot at a certain time or a long putt and maybe turning the match or taking it on to win that point.

That's something that we all need to try and do this week, and we'll definitely be trying our best to do that.

Q. Do you know exactly when you're going to play your first match and exactly who it's going to be with, without naming names, of course? And if the answer is yes, how early did you know that?

TYRELL HATTON: I think the guys have been told -- Paddy told us, was it maybe yesterday I think or the day prior, just so that we all know kind of where we're at, and we know what we're doing.

Q. There's been a little bit of speculation that you might be a target for some of the crowds here, but is it a sort of comfort that nobody here could ever be as hard on you as you are on yourself?

TYRELL HATTON: That's probably very true. I'm not sure exactly what kind of reception I'll get tomorrow. As the away team, I think we all expect a little bit of -- well, not really any cheers. So we all take it in our stride and see how we go.

Q. And this thing of being down on yourself at times, is it easy to pull out of that when you have a partner with you, one hole or whatever, does that make it easier to overcome it?

TYRELL HATTON: For me, I can't kind of -- for me personally, I can't really do that this week because it's almost not fair on your partner. Like you don't want to then almost essentially bring them down and that's not what we're about. That's not what you do as a team. You're in it together. Obviously you support one another and go out there and try and play as well as you can.

Q. Curious when you are on the course, how often do you change your game plan based on what your partner is doing? For instance, are you hitting to more conservative targets if your partner is in trouble, foursomes versus fourballs? How fluid is your plan and does it change at all?

TYRELL HATTON: I think it all depends what the situation of the match is and things like that. I think at the end of the day, you still have to go out and play your own game. If you're naturally a more aggressive player, then sometimes shying away from that, you're not going to hit as good a shot as you could.

I think you just have to try and be true to yourself, play your own game. And yes, I guess you do need to be a little mindful at certain points in the match but generally just go out there and just do what you would normally do.

Q. Have you spoken, you mentioned it about clearly the crowd will be extremely partisan. Have you spoken as a team about how or if you should react to the crowd in terms of, you know, hushing them, in terms of reacting to what they do, have you all spoken together and said, right, keep calm?

TYRELL HATTON: We have spoken a little bit. But I think at the end of the day, you kind of go out there and we're true to ourselves as our own individual people and I guess what you would sort of -- how you would behave any other week, and yeah, we're not -- I wouldn't say we're going to be like aggressive, if that's what you're asking.

Q. I would guess as a young player you aspired to be part of this Ryder Cup dynamic. As you were there in Paris, what's the biggest thing you pulled from being part of that?

TYRELL HATTON: I guess for me that I'm good enough to be here. The fact that I've made two teams now is good for me as an individual and how my own thought process kind of works. And yeah, obviously growing up watching The Ryder Cup and certain members on our team that you've idolized and now you're sharing a team room with them and obviously it makes it very special.

Q. You're coming off back-to-back missed cuts, so do you feel like form coming into The Ryder Cup carries over into The Ryder Cup at all or is it so different with being match play with a partner that it's a new ballgame?

TYRELL HATTON: I hope not. It's a different atmosphere out on the golf course. You know, I'd like to think that generally when under pressure, in big tournaments in the past that I've played good golf, and this week is obviously no different to that. It's big pressure each day and generally over my career, I think I've been able to play well in big moments.

I take confidence from that. Although my form hasn't been great coming into this week. With the added pressure that comes into it, hopefully that allows me to raise my game to where it needs to be to help this team.

Q. How would you rank The Ryder Cup with the four majors?

TYRELL HATTON: Well, it's hard because golf is such an individual sport most of the time. It's hard to kind of compare them. I think The Ryder Cup is extremely special and the bond that you create in the team room is incredible, really. We're all pulling in the same direction. And to be on the team in Paris, to be on a winning Ryder Cup Team obviously made it even better.

I think it feels very different to any major.

Q. Can you tell us about your trip to Asheville, North Carolina?

TYRELL HATTON: That's where me and Emily got married earlier this year, and I basically drank my body weight in beer. It's a cool place. My waistline has not looked good since but obviously looking forward to going back when we can.

JOHN DEVER: Tyrrell, thank you for your time and enjoy your week here in Wisconsin, sir.