TYRRELL Hatton’s spectacular start to the European Tour continued at the weekend as he finished tied for second at the Joburg Open in South Africa.

He finished on 16 under par, three shots behind George Coetzee to earn just under £85,000.

He opened with a five under par 67, which included nine birdies and four bogeys, before two rounds of 69 on Friday and Saturday kept him in the hunt going into the final day at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC.

However, it was his 66 on Sunday that catapulted him through the field and into a tie for second place with Jin Jeong and Justin Walters.

And yet again he owed his high placing to a fast finish.

Hatton actually dropped a shot at the second hole of his final round, but birdies on three, six, eight and nine got him to the turn in 34 before further birdies came on 13, 17 and 18 in a blistering final nine.

All told, the 22-year-old from Marlow fired 23 birdies and an eagle during the week and, after finishing tied for tenth at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and 22nd at the Qatar Masters, he is now up to 31st in the Race to Dubai in his debut season on Tour, with earnings this season already up to £126,000.

However, there was one slight negative for Hatton despite his brilliant finish.

The Joburg Open is part of The Open Qualifying Series, offering three players who have not already qualified a place at The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July.

Coetzee claimed one of them, with Jeong and Walters pipping Hatton to the other two places by virtue of their higher world rankings.

Hatton, who was in the 900s a year ago, is now down to 273 while Jeong is 236 and Walters is 207.