While Tyrrell Hatton has an exceptional record at Yas Links, he’s not happy about the course at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Tyrrell Hatton has the best record at Yas Links in the 2025 Abu Dhabi Championship field, finishing in the top 10 in all three appearances and coming in second last year.
The Englishman is well-suited to links courses, evidenced by his three wins at the Dunhill Links Championship over the course of his career, and his third-round score of 64 has put him in outside contention in Abu Dhabi once again.
But the ever-outspoken Hatton has one major complaint about the Yas Links course, which he shot eight-under-par around.
What Tyrrell Hatton found ‘so bad’ about Yas Links
It looked like Ryder Cup hero Hatton was on for an all-time great round after back-to-back eagles on the first two holes. He was six under through four and on a charge up the leaderboard, but his form cooled off slightly during the day, and the LIV Golf star had his only bogey of the round on the 18th.
Hatton has a hateful relationship with the 18th hole at Yas Links this week. The par-5 closing hole saw Hatton record a double-bogey to end his Friday, and a bogey to finish his Saturday round.
He fell short of a 63 in his third round by finding a bunker on his second shot, 40 yards from the pin. He chipped onto the green and then proceeded to three-putt, putting a dampener on what was otherwise a faultless display.
Despite the three-putt, Hatton blamed the sand in the bunker on the 18th for his bogey. Speaking afterwards, he analyzed his round, “Got off to a pretty amazing start, which was really nice after yesterday’s finish.
“So yeah, I was delighted with that. Struggled a little bit through the middle in terms of not holing putts to keep momentum going.
“And then finally made a putt on 14. Nice one on 16. Missed a good chance on 17, which would be nice to get to 10-under standing on 18. Then, my least favourite hole in the Middle East, which has got a close rival to next week’s finishing hole.
“It was not the best shot, the second shot in. It was a perfect tee shot. And yeah, I don’t know how a ball plugs with a 7-wood, but I mean, the sand is so bad, which is incredible; we’re in the desert.”
Despite the poor finish, Hatton showed seismic improvement in his third round after a level-par Friday.
Tyrrell Hatton’s father fixed his swing at Yas Links
After a poor Friday round, Hatton sought advice from his father, Jeff Hatton, who was his coach until he turned professional.
Jeff and Tyrrell Hatton played alongside each other in the team event at this year’s Dunhill Links Championship, and according to Tyrrell, Jeff’s advice helped him turn his form around in Abu Dhabi.
Hatton explained, “I spoke with my dad. He thought the backswing was a little bit steep. I didn’t necessarily try to make it flatter. I just tried to focus on where my weight was at the top of my backswing, just trying to get it all synced.
“I do sometimes get quite high on my toes. I was just trying to feel my feet.
“In terms of shot-shaping, generally what I saw today was a lot better which was nice. So I’ll take sort of the positives from that, and hopefully we can go out there tomorrow and have another good day.”
Hatton felt uncomfortable after day one of the tournament, but looks far more at home on a course he’s been successful at in the past after speaking to his father. He’ll now hope for another successful closing round in the hopes of putting some pressure on the top of the leaderboard.
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