Tyrrell Hatton jumps to LIV, joins Jon Rahm's new team
Tyrrell Hatton is headed to LIV Golf, the Saudi-funded breakaway league, leaving the PGA Tour behind
LIV Golf has snared another notable PGA Tour player. The Telegraph is reporting that England's Tyrrell Hatton, the 16th-ranked player in the world, will join Ryder Cup teammate Jon Rahm as part of a new 13th team. Hatton would debut this week at the LIV season-opening event at Mayakoba, Mexico.
LIV Golf confirmed the move on Tuesday with a social media posting:
Together we conquer. #LegionXIIIGC @livgolf_league pic.twitter.com/0C9Fx5l0al
— Legion XIII (@LegionXIIIgc) January 30, 2024
Hatton, who has ranked as high as No. 5 in the world, has not yet won a major, and that presents a potential sticking point for him in joining LIV. Major winners have guaranteed exemptions for several years — Rahm, for instance, is exempted into all four majors through the 2027 season thanks to his 2023 Masters win — but non-major winners must rely on world ranking points. Hatton is currently ranked 16th in the world, which will automatically qualify him for the Masters in April.
While Hatton is most definitely one of golf's true personalities — he has a proclivity for profanity both on and off the course — his success has been sporadic. He has one PGA Tour win, the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational, and six DP World Tour victories. He has recorded five top-10 finishes in majors, his best being a T5 at the 2016 Open Championship.
Hatton's jump to LIV presents another problem for the European Ryder Cup team. LIV players who remain members of the DP World Tour can play in the event. But in order to be eligible, players must compete in at least four DP World Tour events over the course of a year, and the DP World Tour both fines and suspends players who compete in LIV events.
Hatton — as well as Rahm and Adrian Meronk, another player who recently committed to LIV — is likely counting on the fact that an agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV Golf, will allow for a route back onto the PGA Tour or into the Official World Golf Rankings in the coming years. That agreement was initially supposed to be completed by the end of 2023, but since has been extended to an as-yet-undetermined date in the future.
