No rest for the weary.
Four members of the European Ryder Cup team are set to compete in this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, a pro-am tournament played on three Fife gems – Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course at St. Andrews. Among them is three-time Dunhill Links champion Tyrrell Hatton, who was looking forward to the change of pace alongside his dad, Jeff, whom he teamed with in last year’s win.
“The atmosphere will be world’s apart,” said Hatton, who went 3-0-1 at Bethpage Black. “Last week was pretty intense.”
Hatton, of course, is referring to the brutal New York crowds, who were relentless in their torment of the European team members and their family. On Sunday night, Rory McIlroy, who received the brunt of the jeering, called the behavior “not acceptable.” And a day later, Derek Sprague, the CEO of the PGA of America said that the organization was “not happy” with what he described as “not the values of the PGA of America or 30 plus thousand PGA golf professionals.”
Not spared was Hatton, who said he received plenty of heckles, mostly about his height and hairline.
“If it was my choice, and obviously what I say isn’t really going to affect how people behave, but I don’t really think that the insults is the way forward,” Hatton said. “I would much prefer it to be a respectful atmosphere; you let the guys play and the best team wins, rather than trying to affect the outcome by trying to put off players or things like that.”
Hatton added that he disagrees with those who compare Bethpage to Rome two years ago.
“Personally, I don’t think they were close at all,” Hatton said. “I certainly, with what I heard last week, I don’t think Rome comes anywhere near that. … I don’t know what else to add to that. I think they are quite far apart to be honest.”
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