“Maybe it's just learning to deal with it” - Tyrrell Hatton expresses his opinions about LIV Golf’s shotgun start format

Tyrrell Hatton has been one of the most recent golfers from the PGA Tour to join the LIV Golf Series, and needless to say, he is still adjusting to the drastic change in format. LIV Golf has a 54 hole, shotgun, no cut tournament format, which is quite different from how the PGA Tour conducts tournaments.

The shotgun starts have been a particular thorn in Tyrrell Hatton's side, and he has not yet adjusted to the idea of the fast paced starts. Speaking in a recent podcast episode of Fairway to Heaven, Hatton said:

"It's a bit different. If I'm honest, I'm not in love with the shotgun start. I like the idea of everyone kind of being on the golf course at the same time and I think that would probably still be achievable if it was a 2 tee start. So I'm not in love with that side of it, maybe it's just learning to deal with it. Because it's all new experiences."

Hatton pointed out that the warmups tend to get quite crowded, and golfers do not get a comfortable amount of time to warm up ahead of a round.

"Ultimately you want to have like a nice warmup like do your routine and get to the tee as and when you want. When I say that like if I'm teeing off the first or the 10th, I will be walking onto the tee 3 minutes before I'm due to go. So I'd get to the putting green just in 10 minutes before."

The length between going to the different tees during a shotgun start is also a factor that reduces the comfort of playing.

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Tyrrell Hatton says it was a coin toss on his decision about joining LIV Golf

Tyrrell Hatton is a part of Jon Rahm's Legion XIII team, which was formed just this year. It was also Jon Rahm that convinced Hatton to join the LIV Golf Series, in what was a literal coin toss decision. Speaking via the Mirror, Hatton explained:

"I had a deadline of 7:30 on the Sunday night [before Mayakoba]. With the help of a coin toss. I signed the contract at 7:29."

Tyrrell Hatton is currently 19th in the individual standings while his team Legion XIII is fourth in the team standings in the 2024 LIV Golf season.