Tyrrell Hatton added a red cardigan to his closet with his victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last year.
He's coming back to Bay Hill this week knowing he has to work on his putting if he wants to add a green jacket to his wardrobe at the Augusta Masters next month.
The sixth world, the final winner of the PGA Tour before the end of the Covid-19, missed the cut at the Augusta National in 2020 and his best final position in four participations is a 44th place in 2018.
“I have to figure out how to putt on Augusta,” said the Englishman Wednesday in Orlando, Fla.
Normally putting is a strong point for me and I never did well there unfortunately.
I obviously hope that will change this year.
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Spectator gauge
Last year at Bay Hill, Hatton clinched his first PGA Tour title five days before tournaments shut down for three months due to the coronavirus.
He didn't let this forced break impact his game and has since enjoyed an impressive streak, which includes a number of Top 10s and wins on the European Tour.
We remember his convincing success at the BMW PGA Championship in October and then at the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi in January.
“Although we unfortunately had a long hiatus shortly after last year's tournament, I kind of kept the momentum going and ended up having a brilliant year.”
Defending champion @TyrrellHattonreturns to the site of his first PGA TOUR victory at the @APInv.
https://t.co/qbwXeh5PAj
- PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 3, 2021
This week, the Englishman is eagerly awaiting some semblance of normalcy at Bay Hill, which will allow an audience level of 25%, making it the busiest event on the PGA Tour since play resumed. "C it's a little hard to remember the cheers.
We've played golf a lot since then without a fan, ”smiles Hatton, who will play the first two rounds this week with Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari.
On the French side, Victor Perez will share his at 7am this Thursday with the Americans Kyle Stanley and Talor Gooch.
Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (PGA Tour) - $ 1,674,000 endowment (€ 1,387,000)
Players to watch:
Viktor Hovland (Nor), Justin Rose, Matt Wallace (Ang), Patrick Reed, Billy Horschel, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Champ, Jordan Spieth (USA), Hideki Matsuyama (Jap).
To follow the tournament on TV -
Thursday: Golf + from 4 pm;
Friday: Golf + from 8 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: Golf + from 6.30 p.m.