Tyrrell Hatton predicts Jon Rahm will play at the 2025 Ryder Cup, but couldn’t say the same for himself.
The World No.15 has played for Europe in the last three biennial battles with the USA, experiencing victory twice and playing a crucial role as one of the continent’s most impressive performers on both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour in recent years.
But much like Rahm and the rest of the European contingent that made the jump to LIV Golf, Hatton’s Ryder Cup future could be in jeopardy if he is unable to play the required amount of DP World Tour events to keep his membership while tied to a LIV contract.
As Europe’s captain Luke Donald stated in Phoenix this week, you must be European and a member of the DP World Tour to be eligible for selection, and while Hatton believes Rahm’s spot at next year’s Ryder Cup is in no doubt, he isn’t as certain about his own.
“Jon’s in a different position to me – you can’t really imagine the European Ryder Cup team without Jon,” he said to James Corrigan of the Telegraph.
“It’s nice to hear your teammates say nice things about you and your contribution but when you talk about the Ryder Cup certainties or whatever, in my own mind, I don’t feel that I’m up there in that bracket with those guys. I’m sorry, I’m just not and can’t rely on my reputation.
“I spoke to Rory (McIlroy), Luke (Donald) and others, figures who I really respect and whose opinions I wanted to take on board, to see about where things might be going in the game. Of course, they couldn’t give me any assurances, because nobody can, but their opinions were valuable.
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“Luke can only control what he can control. And he’s right when saying there are consequences for actions. But he has been supportive. They all have. I’m still on the team’s WhatsApp and haven’t felt any bitterness. Nobody has judged me.”
While speaking at TPC Scottsdale, Donald couldn’t answer the question as to whether he sees Rahm and Hatton as part of his European team at the 45th Ryder Cup.
It is possible Hthe pair keep their status until Europe travel to Bethpage next September, but this would require dealing with hefty fines and suspensions that will come their way, and that came the way of the likes of Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter after playing LIV events.
“Do I see them (in my team)? It’s really hard for me to answer that question now. What I did so well in my captaincy last year was just control what I can control,” Donald said.
“We’re seven months out probably since qualification starts. We have all this talk about potential deals with the PGA Tour, with the DP World Tour, with the PIF.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen, and for the next seven months, I don’t really need to know what’s going to happen because qualification for the Ryder Cup won’t start until then.”
Donald also said he kept an eye on LIV players who maintained their DP World Tour memberships during his selection process for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.
It is concievable the 46-year-old would choose a player from the rebel league, especially if the PGA Tour, the Public Investment Fund and the DP World Tour can strike a peace deal which has been on the cards since June last year.
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Tyrrell Hatton: LIV Golf move decided at the very last minute
Five days before LIV Golf’s first event of 2024, Tyrrell Hatton still hadn’t made his decision.
The Telegraph reported Hatton’s caddie, Mick Donaghy, was in a Heathrow hotel last Sunday, unaware if he was flying to Mexico or California.
Mayakoba, the site of LIV’s $25 million curtain-raiser, was option A, while Pebble Beach on the Monterey Peninsula, hosting PGA Tour’s prestigious Pro-Am event, was option B.
After Hatton explained his alleged £50 million offer to his father Jeff, he eventually landed on a move to the Saudi-funded series and left the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
“I sat him down and explained it all, went through the terms and he (his father) looked at it all and said ‘Well if I was your position, I’d go’,” he said.
“There was a fear of the unknown and going away from my comfort zone. I’ve been on the DP World Tour for 10 years and the PGA Tour for six years and I feel appreciative for what they’ve given me.
“I looked at the LIV schedule and knew I’d be missing Wentworth in September and the BMW PGA Championship is a week I’ve always loved and regard as one of the most important of the year. I cannot be 100 per cent I’ll be back there soon. Like I said, I can only hope.”
The Englishman’s decision to join Greg Norman’s breakaway tour paid dividends, quite literally, in week one as each of the four members of Legion XIII, the team he is part of with Rahm, earned $750,000 each. And that’s before what they individually earned on the leaderboard.
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