Tyrrell Hatton leapfrogged Norway’s Viktor Hovland to move into the top automatic Ryder Cup qualification spot on the World Points List after a solo second finish at The Players Championship on the PGA TOUR.
The two-time Ryder Cup player also finished in a tie for fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks ago and he is trending in the right direction on the World Points List where he now has 107.95 points.
After playing the first nine holes of his final round in level par at TPC Sawgrass, Hatton birdied holes ten and 12 before further birdies from holes 14 through to 18 saw him card a tournament record-equalling 29 on the back nine.
Hatton was projected to make $143,000 after his front nine on the final day, but a back nine birdie-blitz saw the Englishman walk away with a $2.7M payday.
This is the sort of form Luke Donald will no doubt be keeping an eye on ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in September.
That was some final round @TyrrellHatton 👏
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) March 12, 2023
pic.twitter.com/R5hKwOdNQn
2020 Ryder Cup teammate Hovland was Europe’s second highest placed player at TPC Sawgrass, finishing two strokes further back on ten under par.
Although leapfrogged by Hatton, Norway’s first Ryder Cup player still sits in the automatic World Points List qualification spot on 102.14 points.
Five-time Ryder Cup player Justin Rose climbed six places and into the top ten on the World Points List after an impressive tied sixth place finish in Florida.
A winner earlier this year, Rose is beginning to creep towards the automatic qualification spots where he currently sits seventh with 51.66 points.
Meanwhile, Jorge Campillo won his third DP World Tour title at the Magical Kenya Open Presented by ABSA, where rounds of 69-68-63-66 saw the Spaniard win by three strokes.
This in turn sees Campillo climb 16 places on the European Points List and into 11th place on 892.87 points.
Seve Ballesteros won this event in 1978, with Campillo the fourth Spanish winner after José María Cañizares and Jordi Garcia Pinto in 1984 and 2013 respectively.
He said: “It’s hard to put my name under those names. Where I am from, the little town, I am very proud.
“Obviously it’s always nice to win a golf tournament but to put my name on the same trophy as Seve is obviously more special for a Spaniard.
“We will (celebrate) when I get back. I will try to enjoy the moment now, sign the scorecard and just get ready for the next tournament.
“You know how golf is, you win now and then the next day you are not that good any more.”
As it stands Rory McIlroy (1,856.50 points), Jon Rahm (1,850.00 points), and Yannik Paul (1,269.97 points) would claim the three automatic qualifying spots on the European Points List, with Hatton (107.95 points), Hovland (102.14 points) and Shane Lowry (60.92 points) currently sitting in the top three positions on the World Points List.
The 2023 Ryder Cup will take place between September 25 – October 1 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Rome, Italy.
Click here to see full rankings.
