Tyrrell Hatton on top once again

It was business as usual for Tyrrell Hatton at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas on Thursday. After picking up the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday, he jumped on a plane and travelled some five thousand miles but there was no sign of fatigue.

Hatton shot a seven-under-par 65 to take a one-shot lead over Americans Russell Henley and Xander Schauffele. The Englishman was on fire on the back nine, having started at the 10th, which he covered in just thirty shots. The highlight of Hatton’s round came at the par-four 12th hole where he holed his second shot from the middle of the fairway for an eagle.
“Yeah, I mean, It’s fair to say I’m pretty tired at the moment,” Hatton said after his round.
“Still struggling a little bit with jetlag. And you can tell by my voice, picked up a little bit of a sore throat if you like on the way over. So, I’m just – today was a long day. Very happy with my score and I just need to try and get back to the hotel this evening, have a good rest and hopefully sleep better than I did last night and fingers crossed for another good day tomorrow.”

Fellow Englishmen Ian Poulter and Matthew Fitzpatrick who also made the trip following the BMW PGA are tied ninth after both were round in three-under-par 69.
World number one, Dustin Johnson was forced to withdraw from the event after testing positive for COVID-19. Jon Rahm who sits just behind Johnson in the world rankings carded a 67 to sit a tie for fourth alongside American Tyler Duncan.
Brooks Koepka, having his first outing since August due to a recurring knee injury, shot a two-over 74. He was 2-under at one point but struggled coming home, including a double-bogey at the par-four 15th hole.

Elsewhere, Matthew Wolff who lost out in the playoff to Martin Laird last week sits alone in last place after a disastrous round of 80. 
Defending champion Justin Thomas and world number four, Rory McIlroy,  are seven and eight shots behind respectively. 
The CJ Cup was moved from South Korea to Las Vegas because of travel restrictions imposed due to the pandemic.