Tyrrell Hatton is on the brink of joining LIV Golf in a deal worth up to £50 million (approximately $63 million), according to a report in the Telegraph, which also states that the Englishman will be making his debut in Mexico this week.
The third instalment of the Saudi-backed circuit gets underway on Friday, and it’s been reported that Hatton, a six-time winner on the DP World Tour, will be taking his place on the same team as Jon Rahm.
Rahm, who won the 2023 Masters, was unveiled by LIV Golf last month in what was widely reported to be a deal worth £450 million (approximately $570 million), and with fellow European Ryder Cup star Hatton following the Spaniard onto the breakaway Tour, it gives Luke Donald even more to ponder in the run-up to next year’s trophy defence in New York.
EXCLUSIVE: Tyrrell Hatton joins LIV Golf in 11th hour deal https://t.co/G9FZvQtJtnJanuary 29, 2024
As it stands, no one can qualify for the European Team if they are not DP World Tour members, and even those who retain their membership, as Hatton is likely to do, will find qualification difficult (a minimum of four regular events) given the fines and bans that currently apply for playing in LIV events.
The idea that two-time Major winner Rahm might not play in the Ryder Cup in 2025 is something that some players find hard to believe.
“Jon [Rahm] is going to be in Bethpage in 2025,” McIlroy said, after the Spaniard joined LIV. “Because of this decision, the European Tour is going to have rewrite the rules for Ryder Cup eligibility.
“There's no question about that. I certainly want Jon on the next Ryder Cup team,” he added.
Hatton and Rahm formed an impressive partnership against America in Rome in autumn last year, but whether we’ll see pair together in New York next September remains to be seen.
Rahm, Hatton and their fellow Europeans will be hoping that the current merger negotiations involving the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund – the £700 billion Saudi sovereign treasure trove which bankrolls LIV – are settled soon and end up giving them a route back to competing on the established Tours.
According to the Telegraph, Hatton, who has amassed nearly $22 million on the PGA Tour alone, was concerned about what any move to LIV would mean for his participation in the Ryder Cup and Major Championships.
That the 32-year-old has now decided to join LIV hints that he’s comfortable that the current ban on competing in PGA Tour and DP World Tour events is lifted at some point, or that there's a positive outcome for the breakaway players.
The Englishman was expected to appear in Thursday’s first round at Pebble Beach in the $20 million AT&T, but it’s now expected that he will be unveiled in Mayakoba on Wednesday prior to the third season of LIV Golf getting underway.
Rising star Adrian Meronk of Poland is also set to be introduced. The four-time DP World Tour winner recently finished second to Rory McIlroy at the Dubai Desert Classic and after his impressive 2023 campaign had earned himself a PGA Tour card for this year.
Although the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Aberg have rejected offers to join LIV Golf, the recent signings of Rahm and, if it materialises, Hatton, represents a good couple of months for Greg Norman’s enterprise.
