Tyrrell Hatton criticised the setup of the Royal Troon course following his opening round at The Open Championship on Thursday. Hatton carded a two-over-par 73 on day one, having battled in testing conditions on the west coast of Scotland.
The Englishman was as steady as anyone on the Troon setup, parring his opening 13 holes, before two back-to-back bogeys at the 14th and 15th. Settling the ship he then parred his way back in over the last three holes to limit the damage.
Speaking in the aftermath, Hatton was left frustrated by the choice of tee boxes, which he felt made the course play much more difficult amid a swirling wind, even for some of the longest hitters including his playing partner Rory McIlroy. “There’s a few holes that are just obviously playing really long,” he said post-round.
“Unfortunately, that’s where it’s going at the moment, where they just seem to try to make it longer to make it harder, which I think doesn’t make it the most enjoyable test.” He added: “They didn’t put any tees forward. You can’t reach any of the par fives on the front nine.
“Was it 15 or 16, the par dive, you’re hitting a four iron off it. Tell me a good par five where you’re hitting 4-iron off the tee. There isn’t one. Even though they’ve moved the tee back on 17, which I think is a shame, it’s still with the wind today, you’re hitting five iron and hoping it can stay on the green.
“Rory obviously hits it a lot higher and further, and he was hitting 7-iron there. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s a tough hole, and it’s still hard to hit that green. I think it’s a good thing that the wind was playing down because they probably would have left the tee at the back if it was into off the left.
