Tyrrell Hatton has been enjoying an excellent maiden season with LIV Golf and it got even better in the second round of the final regular event of the season. It is being held at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Chicago, and Hatton hit the eighth hole-in-one in the circuit's history.
The Legion XIII player had been in some difficulty after the first round of the event when he found himself tied for 38th on three-over, but he steadied matters over his first 11 holes of the second round with two birdies and two bogeys.
It got better for the Englishman on his 12th of the day, the par-4 fifth, which he birdied and then it was onto the 164-yard par-3 sixth. He judged his tee shot to perfection, dropping the ball a matter of feet from the pin, from where his ball never looked like missing as it dutifully dropped into the hole a couple of bounces later.
🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨@TyrrellHatton claims the 8th hole-in-one in LIV Golf history 👏#LIVGolf @LegionXIIIgc pic.twitter.com/vxS50b5WTASeptember 14, 2024
That took him to level for the tournament at T14, and he moved to one-under with his fourth birdie of the day at the next hole to leave him just four shots off the lead.
That could prove very significant indeed for Hatton as he currently occupies third on the Individual Standings, helped by victory at LIV Golf Nashville, with the final placings being decided after this week's event.
If he maintains that position, he will walk away with a bonus payment of $4m, with only Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka capable of catching him.
If Hatton finishes in the top three this week, he will secure the spot unless Garcia picks up his second win of the season. However, the Spaniard is battling hard and moved to the top of the leaderboard shortly after Hatton's hole-in-one to leave the outcome up in the air deep into the second round.
Regardless of how Hatton ultimately finishes at the tournament, Garcia needs to finish at least 11th to have a chance of claiming third in the standings, Oosthuizen and Smith need to finish fifth or better to have a chance, and Koepka needs to finish at least fourth.
Hatton's magic at the sixth follows previous LIV Golf aces including Chase Koepka's at Adelaide in 2023 and Richard Bland's at Mayakoba in the opening tournament of this season. Joaquin Niemann and Kalle Samooja also made aces at LIV Golf Hong Kong in March.
