Tyrrell Hatton shone through unruly Pinehurst No. 2 after the Thursday round. The Englishman was lucky to have three birdies with the most pars and a lone bogey, catapulting his score to 2 under 68 and sitting comfortably at T6. While Hatton was having a blast at Pinehurst, the course didn’t serve as amusing to other golfers.

Many top players like Viktor Hovland and Justin Thomas struggled to make even pars at the Donald Ross course as they were 8 and 7 over after the opening round of the U.S. Open concluded. Seeing the pros struggle with Pinehurst and lose their cool, Hatton was relieved to find these players in his shoes for once.

Tyrrell Hatton smiles as players come to his level

When Tyrrell Hatton started practicing at Pinehurst No. 2 on Monday, he felt that it was not as bad as he had expected it to turn out and quite honestly enjoyed the tough course. The practice clearly reflected on the course, as he is just 3 shots behind the golfers leading the leaderboard. It only kept the LIV golfer in jovial spirits but also prevented him from turning the air blue, which he has done a few times in the past.

Being among the few pros who didn’t continuously struggle at the first round of the U.S. Open, Hatton found it amusing to witness other pro golfers at Pinehurst facing challenges that he himself has encountered numerous times throughout his golf career. Talking about it at the press conference, the 1-time PGA Tour winner stated, “In some ways, with it being harder a lot of guys sort of losing their head, it sort of brings them to my level because I just lose my head every week (smiling). They can kind of experience what it’s like in my head for a week,”

However, the LIV pro did not let it get ahead of himself and reminded that it was still a challenge and despite him playing well in the opening round, three more days were still to play. The Englishman shared what the future might hold at Pinehurst, saying, “It’s only going to get harder from here I think. Imagine they won’t be overly pleased there’s a couple of guys at 5-under,” [Only Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay].

For the second day of the championship, Hatton has a pretty simple strategy to tackle Pinehurst and remain in contention. The 32-year-old stated, “Try my best, try to be in the fairways as much as possible, try to hit as many greens as I can. See what happens.” Regardless of whether Hatton ends up co-leading after 36 holes or falling victim to the unforgiving Pinehurst greens, the English pro will aim to keep his cool. It was not all easy sailing for Hatton in the first round but he overcame it with his golfing skills and a little bit of luck.

Hatton’s lucky birdie at 17th

In the opening round of the U.S. Open, Tyrrell Hatton reached the 17th hole, his seventh of the play, with only one birdie. The 213-yard par-3 was at first a challenge for Hatton. He shot with the 5-iron and as the ball touched the lip of the right-side sand bunker, Hatton dropped his club and kicked at the turf in disgust. However, what he did not notice was that his ball did not land in the bunker.

The ball was actually on the green, just 10 feet from the hole. Recalling his 17th tee shot, the 32-year-old said, “I feel like I faded it a bit and hit it out of the toe. It’s just a disgusting feeling. But yeah, I didn’t even see where it landed.” With luck on his side, Hatton then carded the second birdie of his round to be 2 under.

With a bogey on the par-4, 2nd, and a birdie on the 5th hole, Hatton was fortunately able to maintain his 2 under scoreline without a hassle. On the second day, things might get tricky as players try to outrun the cutline. Will Hatton be able to maintain the ongoing momentum? It remains to be seen.