In Round 3 of the Dubai Desert Classic, Tyrrell Hatton gashed a tee marker on the par-3 7th hole. 

“Just a bit of frustration,” the Englishman told The Observer . “Probably shouldn’t have done it. Does it make me a bad person? No. It’s just a spur-of-the-moment thing and it happened. I can’t go back and change it, so move on.”

And the temperamental 33-year-old did just that. Starting the day one back, Hatton came from behind to win the Dubai Desert Classic by a stroke at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai.

To claim his eighth DP World Tour title, Hatton, who plays for LIV Golf, shot a 3-under 69 to finish at 15 under and edge New Zealander Daniel Hillier, the 54-hole leader. Hiller birdied the last, but Hatton made a 7-footer for par to prevent a playoff. 

“My hands were shaking,” Hatton said following the win. “I was just praying I hit a good putt. The putter was a little bit cold today.”

Defending champion Rory McIlroy made a run with five birdies on the last nine for a final-round 6-under 66 that sprung him to a T4 finish. 

“I probably just left myself a bit too much to do after three days,” McIlroy said. “I had chances, and I was burning the edges.

“Felt like I putted pretty well without anything going in and then today, didn’t really feel like I played that differently the way I played the last few days. I just held a couple of putts and made a couple of good up-and-downs when I had to. I feel like I got progressively better as the week went on, which bodes well for obviously the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, it was nearly a year ago that Hatton joined LIV Golf. He is currently appealing his DP World Tour suspension, which allows him to still play the European-based circuit. 

“Sitting here now and being able to have played DP World Tour events,” he said, “and again, when I signed, I feel like I went about it the right way. I spoke to the right people, and everyone knew my stance and how I felt about the DP World Tour and wanting to still play events.”

However, LIV events don’t offer world ranking points. Therefore, performing well in Rolex Series tournaments, such as this week’s, will help Hatton achieve his ultimate goal for this year—making the European Ryder Cup team. 

“This week was massive for me,” Hatton said. “I’ve still got the four majors to continue earning points for the Ryder Cup (he’s only not currently in the U.S. Open). 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.”