Tyrrell Hatton had a share of the lead at the DP World Tour Championship, and slammed his putter on the green after missing a short putt.

During round two on the seventh green, Hatton sparked controversy following a recent DP World Tour Q-School ruling. That precedent was set when 21-year-old English golfer Frank Kennedy was disqualified from the final stage of Q-School for damaging a green at Infinitum Golf in Tarragona, Spain.

The disqualification occurred in the fourth round when Kennedy, after missing a birdie putt on the 11th green, swung his putter and carved out an approximately foot-long divot in the green. Tournament officials determined that this constituted serious misconduct under Rule 1.2a for deliberately inflicting damage.

Even though Kennedy maintained that the damage was non-deliberate and noted he fixed the spot right away, the DP World Tour affirmed the penalty after a review, terminating his opportunity to earn a tour card.

Hatton’s incident didn’t cause a large divot, as he shared the lead at five-under par alongside Rory McIlroy, following a second-round 69 to McIlroy's 70. Hatton was not punished, despite sparking a debate on social media.

“Overall it was pretty solid,” said Hatton after the round. “A couple of really poor tee shots to the one up 7 and the one -- what hole was it? -- 12. Just, yeah, weird shots. Actually struggled with a couple of those in Round 1 in Abu Dhabi last week.

“Weird to see that kind of crept in. It made me feel a little bit uncomfortable with driver for the rest of the round, to be honest.

"The tee shot that I had on 18 is more of just being reluctant to see that left one. Yeah, a bit of a weird round in that sense, but a fairly good score.”

Despite the incident on the green, Hatton still has a shot at winning the final event of the DP World Tour’s 2027 calendar.

“I mean, hopefully -- I think Rory is 6-under or 7-under at the moment,” said Hatton. “So from my point of view, I hope he doesn't make too many birdies coming in. But he's got an amazing record around this golf course. It just sets up pretty well for him.

“I'm happy enough with where I'm placed after two rounds. Hopefully I can play better over the weekend and give myself more birdie opportunities.”

While Kennedy was sanctioned for causing physical damage to the putting surface, there is no evidence that Hatton caused any harm to the seventh green in Dubai.

Under Rule 1.2a of the Rules of Golf, committees have the authority to disqualify players for serious misconduct, such as damaging the course or demonstrating disrespect for the sport. Yet, an outburst or club slam alone does not automatically result in disqualification.