It’s been a while since we’ve had a player drop a big, whiny and strange rant about golf architecture. In this case it’s Kyle Phillips Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, home of the Abu Dhabi Championship won by Thomas Pieters.
But it was defending champion Tyrrell Hatton who unraveled after making nine to end Saturday’s third round. The Guardian’s Ewan Murray delivered a few account. From his story:
“It must be one of the worst par fives that I’ve ever seen in my life and, over the last two days, I’ve clearly played it about as well as it was designed,” said Hatton, who took seven there on Friday.
The problem seems to be the lack of reachable and a centerline bunker splitting a huge landing area, with the left round shortening the route to the hole.
Pressed on what precisely is wrong with the 18th, Hatton was not of a mind to back down. “What’s wrong with it? Where do you start?” he asked. “It shouldn’t have a bunker in the middle of the fairway and it shouldn’t be over 600 yards from a forward tee. If you hit a good drive as a pro you should have at least a chance to go for the green in two, otherwise the hole becomes a par three [after the first two shots] and that’s if you play it well. Hardly anyone will get there in two today.”
I’d say it’s showing that players rarely face a three-shot par-5 or a centerline bunker.
*Hatton kept at it after Sunday’s final round, reports The Guardian’s Murray. A return in 2023 seems unlikely.
Hatton doubled down on fierce criticism of the 18th hole here from Saturday, when he took nine at the par five. Asked what he thought when walking onto the same tee on day four, the defending champion replied: “That I would love for a bomb to drop on it and blow it up to oblivion to be honest. It’s just such a terrible finishing hole.
“And the fact that they moved the tee back today is ridiculous. I hit a really good tee shot and still had 290 yards to the front [of the green]. I could pick driver up again and still not get there. It would be a much better finishing hole if you’re actually rewarded for hitting the fairway which, as it stands, you’re not.”
There was more. Hatton won this event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, meaning his desire for it to return there is perhaps logical. “Also, this place for spectators is just awful,” Hatton added. “Seeing where the rope lines are and where spectators have to walk, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear a lot of people have hurt their ankles and all sorts this week.