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Friday 6 March 2020 23:58, UK
Tyrrell Hatton believes there is still plenty of room for improvement in his game despite sharing the lead at the halfway stage of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The Englishman followed his opening 68 with a three-under 69 in the second round at Bay Hill to sit alongside South Korea's Sung Kang at the top of the leaderboard on seven under.
Hatton mixed five birdies with two bogeys and was indebted to his short game after grafting his way round, especially on the back nine.
"It's been pretty tough," he said. "Obviously the wind's picked up quite a bit and the greens are releasing quite a lot. So, yeah, it's a challenge.
"I honestly don't know how I've got to seven under with how I played the back nine today.
"I was going on quite nicely during my front nine and I feel like I just lost my swing a bit. So I'm really happy to get in the clubhouse with no damage done and looking forward to the weekend now.
"I hope my long game improves. I feel like I'm only leading the tournament at the moment thanks to my short game and how well I putted the last two days, so hopefully that continues over the weekend, but hopefully my long game improves with that."
Hatton is chasing his maiden PGA Tour victory after claiming four wins on the European Tour.
"Well, that [first PGA Tour victory] would obviously be amazing. The kind of next step in my career," he added.
"Obviously I want to be playing both tours for a long time. I've been fortunate to win a few times on the European Tour and I'll be trying my best this weekend to win over here.
"And then it would make things a bit easier if you know where you're at for the next few years, with the exemptions. So we'll just see what happens."
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