Tyrrell Hatton is a winner again on the DP World Tour. The Englishman fired a final-round 69 at Emirates Golf Club to reach 15 under at the 2025 Dubai Desert Classic and eek past Daniel Hillier for a one-stroke victory. Hatton’s win represents the eighth on the DP World Tour; his fifth Rolex Series title pulls him alongside Jon Rahm for most all-time.
“It feels amazing,” Hatton said. “… This is one of the events that you would like to have on your C.V. It’s such an iconic event for the DP World Tour. To add my name to the list of the amazing champions that have been before me, and to have my name on that trophy now, it’s a dream come true.”
With the triumph, Hatton will climb inside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings and atop of the Race to Dubai standings in the early stages of the 2025 season. He will also receive a boost to his Ryder Cup playing candidacy as he began the week third in the European team standings and appears to have locked up his spot on the team at Bethpage Black no matter his final position in the rankings.
“I’ve still got the four majors to continue earning points for the Ryder Cup,” Hatton said. “It’s no secret that I really want to be on that team. I’ve automatically qualified for the previous three Ryder Cups, and I’d love to be able to keep that streak going. Yes, it’s a lot harder for me now, but winning the Dunhill and winning here this week, with this being a Rolex Series Event and more points available, puts me in a good position. But I still need to go play really well in the majors. I still need to play well when I’m playing in the LIV [Golf] events. That’s what I’m going to try and do.”
Hatton began the final round in Dubai one stroke off the 54-hole pace set by Hillier. Even after making a bogey on the first hole, Hatton had climbed his way into the share of the lead by the time he walked off the second green thanks to his first birdie of the day.
The lead was all his by the time he was finished with the par-4 5th, and his margin only grew from there as another birdie came calling on No. 6 and pushed his advantage to two. Hillier had his moments in the middle portion of the round and clawed his back to within one of Hatton, but that is as close as he would get.
Maneuvering a wedge into the par-4 16th to kick-in distance, Hatton had reclaimed his two-stroke edge with two holes to play. A pair of pars was all that was needed for him to enter the winner’s circle and enter the conversation as a top player in the game to begin 2025.
“Everyone says that you can’t be perfect but I try to be perfect every shot I hit,” Hatton said. “I have high standards, and I get frustrated when I don’t meet those standards. I’m always going to wear my heart on my sleeve and give it 100%, and that’s never, ever going to change.”
Hatton was not the only prospective Ryder Cup team member to enjoy a solid week. Rory McIlroy carded a final-round 66 to climb inside the top five in his title defense. His fellow countryman, Tom McKibbin, finished inside the top 10 as well with Robert MacIntyre and Tommy Fleetwood rounding out the top 25.
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