Tyrrell Hatton says what ‘everyone’ has got wrong about Augusta National and he completely disagrees with

Add as preferred source on Google

While Tyrrell Hatton does not have the best major championship record to date, the Englishman heads to The Masters this year off the back of his best ever performance at Augusta National in 2024.

Tyrrell Hatton was unquestionably one of the best players in the world around the turn of the year. He had won his first LIV Golf event in Nashville in the middle of the year, before going on to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for a record third time. He then kicked off his 2025 by securing another victory on the DP World Tour.

He has not had the best start to the year on LIV, with no top 10s since finishing sixth in Riyadh in the season opener. With that, he is perhaps one player going under the radar heading into The Masters.

Hatton did finish tied for ninth last year, while he has not missed a cut at Augusta National since 2020 – when the tournament was held at the opposite end of the year.

Tyrrell Hatton suggests what everyone gets wrong about Augusta National

So Hatton may be one player who does enjoy a decent week in the coming days. But Augusta has a unique way of tripping up most of the competitors who start to think that they may have worked the course out.

Perhaps therefore, it is no surprise that Hatton is still expecting a number of real challenges. He explained in a video with Ping what many seem to misunderstand about the demands of Augusta, particularly off the tee.

“You have to drive the ball really well. It’s funny because everyone seems to think that it’s quite a wide, open course and you can get away with misses. I’ve never felt that way, I feel like you really need to drive the ball well here,” he said.

“I think two is quite sneaky. I know they’ve moved the tee back a little bit, last year was the first time we’ve played it further back, but before then, I always felt two was a very narrow tee shot, certainly for me again because I see a little fade, and you really have to take it tight to those left trees which isn’t necessarily a comfortable thing to do. And 17 as well, I think 17’s a really hard driving hole.

“Sadly, they’ve lost a lot of trees with the storm that came through in September. It did take out one of the trees on 17 that I didn’t like the visual of. So I guess standing on that tee for me today when I saw it for the first time, it felt a lot nicer for me, but you’re still very aware that even though it feels wider, where you’re hitting to is still very narrow and I think that’s why you get some guys hit three wood into the wider part. It’s good it gives you an option.

“I think also putting inside 10 feet is pretty crucial. And then the pace putts – I think that’s one of the hardest things to get right here, because everyone knows that the greens are so quick, but you can also have putts that feel like they’re the slowest putts that you’ve ever hit in your life, just with how steep the slopes are, and you seem to go from one extreme to the other. Certainly for me, even though statistically I’ve been a good putter for x amount of years, I think that’s one thing I’ve always struggled with is just getting to grips with the pace of each green.”

Tyrrell Hatton’s stats from the 2024 Masters

Hatton was superb in one particular area last year, though it was not off the tee or on the green.

According to his strokes gained data from the previous Masters, the 33-year-old was the fourth best player around the greens across the week, with only Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith and Patrick Reed outperforming him.

If he can maintain that level while also being a little better off the tee and on the putting surfaces, then perhaps Hatton will find himself in the mix this time around.

But there is no question that there is a frightening amount of competition for that first major title of the year.