Early in Round 2 at the 2025 PGA Championship, LIV star Tyrrell Hatton made a charge for the lead. But after getting within one shot, it all came crashing down with a disastrous implosion on a single hole that left Hatton cursing and spitting at his ball—and his position on the leaderboard plummeting.
Mud balls confound stars, Hatton cruises
When the dust settled on Day 1 of the PGA Championship, many stars, such as Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, found themselves in the lower half of the leaderboard.
Several players publicly blamed mud balls on Quail Hollow’s fairways for their wayward scores. Even ESPN analyst Curtis Strange joined the criticism, saying the PGA tournament organisers “were wrong” not to allow lift, clean, and place on Thursday.
Despite a solid opening-round 69, Scottie Scheffler also criticised the playing conditions at length, which he said led to his double bogey on the 16th hole.
Playing partner and defending champion Xander Schauffele called the prevalence of mud balls “kind of stupid.”
Hatton, on the other hand, had little to complain about on Thursday night. The Englishman fired a three-under-par 68 in the first round to get into contention.
But the infamously hot-tempered professional had plenty to say during Friday’s second round.
While it is unclear whether mud balls contributed to Hatton’s struggles on Friday, he is, at the very least, the latest victim of the host course, Quail Hollow.
Angered Tyrrell Hatton collapses at PGA
In the early stages of Round 2, which he started on the 10th tee, Hatton did not stumble at all. In fact, he made a charge at the leaders.
He posted back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th to get off to a hot start, then added another birdie on the 17th to move to five under par. At that point, he was just one shot off the lead and seemingly in cruise control.
Then disaster struck.
On the par-4 18th hole, Hatton lost his drive to the left and watched it splash into a creek. His frustration flared up quickly.
After the shot, Hatton glared at his driver head and hissed at it. Then a microphone on the tee caught Hatton as he uttered this R-rated reaction:
“Piece of sh— c—.”
**WARNING** – DON’T OPEN THE VIDEO IF YOU’RE OFFENDED BY FOUL LANGUAGE OR HAVE CHILDREN NEARBY
Tyrrell Hatton was not happy with his driver 😂 pic.twitter.com/QffV33Xxq2
— Odds Shark (@OddsShark) May 16, 2025
From there, Hatton took the penalty stroke, then dropped roughly 40 yards behind where his ball had entered the water to hit his third shot. But something went very wrong on that shot, too, as his ball landed short and right in deep rough, 40 yards from the green.
And it kept getting worse. The rough swallowed his wedge on his fourth shot, which also failed to reach the green. At that point, Hatton bent over and spat at the spot where his ball had rested.
Then he faced an uphill chip from just off the front of the green. Hatton left that one short, too, and watched helplessly as his ball rolled back off the front of the green.
He finally chipped to two feet before tapping in for a triple-bogey 7. The ugly score sent Hatton from five under par to two under, dropping him from one off the lead to tied for 23rd.
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