LIV Golf’s Masters notebook: Hatton opens strong

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tyrrell Hatton hasn’t always enjoyed Augusta National. But then …

“Do I like any golf course?” he asked with a smile Thursday.

His feelings about the par-72 masterpiece may be starting to soften. The Legion XIII star opened with a 3-under 69 Thursday and is tied for fifth alongside Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau. It was the first time Hatton has broken 70 in any of the first three rounds at the Masters.

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He’ll enter Friday firmly in contention, albeit four shots off the lead held by fellow Englishman Justin Rose, as he seeks his first major victory.

In his eight previous Masters start, Hatton’s best score in any of the first three rounds was 71. But last year, he closed with a final-round 69 to finish tied for ninth, his best result at Augusta National.

And now this.

“It's just so hard,” Hatton said. “It's like, you love being here and it's very special, but at any moment you can just hit a shot and it just does your head in. I just need to keep hitting perfect shots.”

He was close to perfect for his first 16 holes, bogey free and 4 under. He suffered a bogey at the par-4 17th after his approach found the green but rolled off the back. He nearly holed his chip shot but saw his par putt slide by.

“I don't feel like I did a huge amount wrong there,” he said. “But I think that's kind of this place, as well. You don't really have to do anything wrong to drop shots. A little bit disappointed with that, but happy to shoot another round in the 60s.”

Hatton was happy with the performance of his driver, having put a new PING G440 LST in his bag this week. He also is using a new shaft, the Mitsubishi Diamana TB 80 TX. He said the difference was noticeable.

“That's been a little bit better for me, seeing the ball come back to the right again, which is nice,” he said. “That's my natural shape. Standing on certain holes and being able to trust that better has been good, and I think that was one of the keys for me today.”

Another key is just feeling comfortable at Augusta National, relying on his own game as opposed to trying to replicate the way others have successfully attacked it.

He said that was the difference last year with his best finish.

“I always felt like from watching this event as a kid and seeing guys that you always see on TV that hit the best shots, and there's always balls falling in from slopes,” he explained. “I think my first few years here I was just almost hitting where the slopes were rather than naturally kind of see the pin and want to aim at that.

“Of course you have to be a little bit cautious sometimes. I feel like I'm fairly aggressive. Maybe last year I did a better job at just trying to not be so negative at times and play away and try and hit certain slopes and just go more at pins, and that sort of fed fairly well for me.”

REED UNHAPPY WITH PUTTER: 4Aces GC star Patrick Reed, the 2018 Masters champ, opened with a respectable 1-under 71.

“I don’t care,” he said afterward. “It’s not good enough.”

Specifically, he blamed his putter. And he did not mince words.

“Putted like a blind man,” he said.

It was not the only reference to his putting frustrations during his post-round assessment.

While his 30 putts left him near the middle of the pack in the field statistically, Reed listed off several misses that prevented him from posting a low number.

The birdie putt at the par-5 second that was on line but short (“Shocker,” he said). The 4-1/2 foot birdie miss at the third hole. A three-putt for bogey at the fifth hole. The missed 5-footer for birdie at the 11th hole. Missed birdie putts at the 14th and 18th holes that were headed to the middle of the cup.

“I hit it fine,” he said. “I just couldn't make a putt at all. That's the biggest problem. You have to make putts out here. At least I feel like the ball was starting straight. Just couldn't get the ball to the hole.”

He was then asked what goes through his mind when he’s having a day like that.

“You want to break it. You want to break the putter. That’s what you want to do.”

But he didn’t.

“I should have,” he replied.

If he can get the putter to cooperate, he may still have a chance this week. But …

“The flatstick is on vacation and needs to kind of show up,” he said. “It needs to get on a flight and meet me here.”

JOACO STARTS GREAT, THEN ... Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann was feeling it early, with three birdies in his first four holes. But then the birdies dried up and the bogeys started to creep in.

His even-par 72 was not bad on the surface, but considering his promising start, it could’ve been much more.

Still, the LIV Golf points leader left Augusta National in an upbeat mood.

“I felt like more than the result, I played great today,” he said. “I kind of had two bad breaks on the par 5s, but other than that, it could’ve been a really low round.”

The first bad break came at the eight when he flushed his second shot with a 7-wood, and it landed 20 yards farther than he expected, leaving him with a tough up-and-down that he did not convert.

Then at the par-5 13th, he hit a perfect drive and had a 7-iron into the green, but his ball landed in the tributary of Rae’s Creek in front of the green, costing him a bogey.

“Just made a bad swing,” he said. “It's kind of tricky there. Right where I was, it was kind of like a big slope where the ball was way, way on top of my feet.

“It's kind of a tricky shot, but it's still a 7-iron. I felt like I could have done a better swing there.”

RAHM’S TOUGH START: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm’s 3-over 75 leaves him in catch-up mode entering Friday.

In assessing his round, the 2023 Masters champ said the issues were “a bit of everything. Not good off the tee, and then the few chances I had, I didn’t take advantage of.”

The 75 ties for Rahm’s highest opening-round score in nine Masters starts. The only other time he opened with a 75 was in 2018 in his second start at Augusta National.

He then proceeded to shoot three rounds in the 60s and eventually finished in solo fourth.

“I’m confident,” he said. “It’s a very difficult golf course. It’s going to get harder. If I can get off to a good start, post a round in the 60s tomorrow, then the weekend could be a new story.”

QUICK HITS

4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson, the 2020 Masters champ, after his 2-over 74: “Made a couple bad bogeys early. Felt like I played pretty well, better than my score for sure.” …

HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson’s 3-over 75 matches his highest first-round score in his last 10 Masters starts …

Stinger GC’s Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champ, after his 2-over 74 in which he opened with 13 consecutive pars: “I played beautifully. It’s probably the best I’ve driven the ball around here ever. If I keep doing that, tomorrow’s flags might sit better on my eye. Might have better opportunities.”

Schwartzel’s daughter Olivia followed him for the entire round. “It's the first time that she's ever walked 18 holes with me,” he said. “That made me proud.” ...

Brooks Koepka shot a 2-over 74. It’s the fourth time in 10 Masters starts that he’s opened with a 74. In fact, the Smash GC captain is generally feast-or-famine at Augusta National on Thursdays. He opened with a 66 in 2019 and a 65 in 2023, while seven other times he’s failed to break par.

ROUND 1 SCORES

(Tyrrell Hatton photo by Montana Pritchard/LIV Golf)