Tyrrell Hatton after destroying tee marker: ‘Does that make me a bad person?’

Tyrrell Hatton had some explaining to do after Saturday’s third round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Hatton shot a 4-under 68 around Emirates Golf Club and will enter Sunday just a shot off the lead from Daniel Hillier. But tournament officials had other business with Hatton in the scoring area, where they questioned the temperamental Englishman about the incident on the par-3 seventh hole, specifically the plastic tee marker that had been cut.

Hatton was quick to admit that he hit the square twice with his bat in frustration.

“Just a little frustration,” Hatton said The Observer later. “It probably shouldn’t have been done. Does that make me a bad person? No. It’s just an incentive and that’s what happened. I can’t go back and change it, so move on. I was told about it in the scoring. I have no problem with what was said. I know it’s not the right thing to do, but in the heat of the moment when you’re frustrated, you just do things you probably wish you hadn’t. I won’t let it bother me for the rest of the day.

“If that’s the worst thing I do as a human being, then, I mean, it’s not so bad.”

Hatton found the green on the seventh hole, where he two-putted from 48 feet for par. He is looking for his second win on the DP World Tour since joining LIV Golf almost a year ago.

If he wins his first title in Dubai on Sunday, surely some of his winnings will go towards the penalty.