St. Andrews: Englishman Tyrrell Hatton put a poor Ryder Cup outing behind him to card an eight-under 64 and grab a share of the lead after the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Thursday.
Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, Spaniard Adri Arnaus and China’s Li Haotong were also eight-under at the top of a bunched-up leaderboard. Three others, including Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson, were one stroke back.
The tournament is being held across three courses in rotation over the opening three days - the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns - with the final round to be played at St Andrews.
Hatton, who won just one of his four matches and earned 1.5 points for Europe at Whistling Straits, started slowly but shot five birdies and an eagle on the back nine to vault into the lead before Li matched him with three straight birdies at the end of his round.
Hatton’s European teammate Tommy Fleetwood was two shots back, having stitched together a solid bogey-free round of 66.
However, there was disappointment for Shane Lowry, who shot a one-under 71, while Padraig Harrington finished with a dismal three-over 75.
