THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2023

Tyrrell Hatton

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. When you stood on the 10th tee, did you see that coming? Seven birdies over the final nine holes?

TYRRELL HATTON: No, especially with how I was hitting it off the tee on the front nine. Yeah, just pretty mad two and a half hours in the end, I guess, from standing on the 10th tee. So really happy with how it's played out. Yeah, good day's work.

Q. What happened on the 9th? Was that a misjudgment off the tee there?

TYRRELL HATTON: No, I was struggling with a block fade, which it's just not a nice shot to have on a left-to-right wind. I was trying to be aggressive off the tee. There will be some guys that hit 3-wood there. It's a wider hitting area. Then some guys are still going to be able to get there with 3-wood.

But I was just trying to be a little bit more aggressive, trying to make -- I was 1-under for the day to that point. Yeah, just trying to make something happen. Obviously not a very good swing into the water and ended up making a good 6 after I managed to miss the green from about 50 yards. So, yeah, that was a good effort as well.

Q. The second shot on 18, were you feeling that good? Do you take that stuff on?

TYRRELL HATTON: Well, I mean, it's just in that moment I don't think there was -- sure, it was a risky shot, but it never crossed my mind to just try and chip out. The wind was sort of in off the left so it was kind of helping me with the shot that I could -- at the end of the day, I was just trying to cut it, and over-cutting it is going to be a better miss than coming out dead straight.

What made it more good was the lie, the fact that I couldn't get the club properly behind the ball and had to hover it quite far back.

But, yeah, for it to come out as well as it did, obviously I was delighted with. Then, yeah, very happy to hole the putt at the end of it.

Q. What club was it?

TYRRELL HATTON: It was a 4-iron.

Q. It's $2.7 million for second, insane money. What can that do for you?

TYRRELL HATTON: Well, look, money's great, but like at the end of the day, I'm, what, 69th in the FedExCup. I made a comment at the start of this week that after being in the tournament at Bay Hill for as long as I was on Sunday, to only end up with 110 points was disappointing.

Every year we're all trying to earn as many points as we can. This year's no different. I mean, this is, I want to say, is this my sixth or -- it might be sixth counting FedEx event of the season. So I'm playing catch-up to a lot of guys that have played quite a bit of golf already. Obviously some of the European lads are in the same boat where we try -- where we play DP World stuff at the back end of the calendar year and we miss some events over in the States. So, yeah, I'm just out here trying to earn as many points as I can and try and set myself up nicely for next year.

Q. (On the importance of being in the top 50.)

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, but I mean if you play well you earn your right to be there. It's as simple as that where it's a level playing field rule, going out, trying our best every week, and if you play better, then obviously you're going to be in the bigger event. Sport is brutal, and golf's no different.

Q. Curious your opinion on Sawgrass. You missed a few cuts here earlier in your career, and now two pretty good results back-to-back.

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, it's funny, sounds horrible to say something positive, I guess, but it's one of my favorite golf courses. Although I haven't generally, apart from this week and last year, I guess, I haven't really done that well here in the past.

There's a couple of tough tee shots for me, like the tee shot on 2, it's hard. Like I always -- with the woods, it's always a left-to-right, and I don't ever try and shape it, so naturally I'm a little bit uncomfortable with those kind of shots.

Then 18 visually is not a nice tee shot, again, if you fade the ball. So there's a couple of tee shots that I probably struggle with more than other lads that have a more natural right-to-left or drawers of the ball.

But I think it's such a pretty golf course, visually on the eye, I mean aside from 8. We don't need 235 yard par-3s; that kind of ruins it a bit. I got to say something negative, obviously.

But, yeah, I do like the golf course.

Q. You had a rare smile on 18.

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, I mean, considering where I was at the start of the back nine, I was probably tied 34th or something like that, so if you had said that you would finish second in the tournament or tied second and you don't have to play the back nine, I think you would take that.

Q. You've been in the heat against Scottie a few times. What do you think about what he's doing with his game at the moment, week to week to week?

TYRRELL HATTON: Yeah, he's very impressive. Incredibly consistent. He's had an amazing, what, 15-month stretch of golf. Played with him last Sunday and it was clear like he didn't have his best that day, but he still hung around and had a chance there right at the end.

Like it's a pretty tough thing to do to be up there when you don't have your best golf and still give yourself a chance to win. So, yeah, it's very impressive what he's doing. Not much more that I can say.

Q. You've talked about the challenges you've had with this course. Were there adjustments you've made this year that helps you?

TYRRELL HATTON: No, no changes in terms of how I try and play. Yeah, just go out there and what's in front of me, I try and do the best I can with what I've got. Yeah, obviously it's worked out nicely in the end this week, but, yeah, I just try my best.