Tyrrell Hatton outlines path from LIV to Ryder Cup

The men’s major season may have just passed, but much of the real work starts now for Tyrrell Hatton.

The fiery Englishman, who followed Jon Rahm to the LIV Golf League in January, is about to return to the other side of golf’s divide with one thing in mind: The Ryder Cup.

Like his new Legion XIII teammate Rahm, Hatton jeopardised his chances of competing at next year’s showdown at Bethpage Black when making the LIV leap.

Crucially, however, the formidable duo – dubbed Team Angry in last year’s epic European victory at Marco Simone – have held onto their DP World Tour cards, despite the fines and suspensions mounting up for playing in the conflicting LIV events.

And when LIV’s 14-event season ends next month, Rahm and Hatton both plan to come back to their old domain to meet the playing requirements and retain their memberships.

“I still feel like its been really busy,” Hatton tells bunkered, reflecting on his first year with LIV. “I feel like I’ve played a lot of golf and it’s not going to slow down.”

This week, Hatton is at The Belfry, the four-time Ryder Cup venue in Sutton Coldfield that now stages the British Masters.

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It will be the first time Hatton has teed it up on the DP World Tour since the Dubai Desert Classic, a week he spent agonising over the offer from Greg Norman’s breakaway.

That January jaunt to the Middle East counted as the first of four events that Hatton needs to play to keep his card and remain eligible for Bethpage.

He then tees it up in LIV’s season finales in Chicago and Dallas before crossing back over the Atlantic for the Spanish Open and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

“It’s going to be busy, but it’s a good thing,” Hatton says.

“Ryder Cup points start at the British Masters. The LIV events are the same period this year as Irish Open and Wentworth (the BMW Championship). Previously those would be two events I would be looking to play, but I haven’t played the British Masters in a long time because it’s always fallen on the FedEx Playoffs.

“The schedule has stopped you playing certain events over the last few years, that’s just where golf’s been going. I’m obviously sad to miss Wentworth this year. That tournament is really special to me and I’ve said numerous times what that tournament means. I’m sad to miss it this year but I’m excited to play British Masters and obviously I have a good record at the Dunhill (two-time champion).

“My main aim with these three events is to earn some Ryder Cup points early but also to try and earn enough points to get me into Abu Dhabi and Dubai in November. That’s hopefully where we finish the season.”

LIV Golf events do not receive accreditation in Team Europe’s revised qualifying system, which is most heavily weighted towards the majors and the signature PGA Tour events. That makes Hatton an unlikely automatic qualifier without a superb season in the majors.

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But he still should be eligible for one of Luke Donald’s six captain’s picks after these next three starts in Europe, regardless of whether he gathers enough Race to Dubai points for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in November.

“Even with how the points list was for Rome, there’s no easy route in,” Hatton says. “There was three on the world list and three on the European list. You have to play such good golf to be an automatic pick.

“Luke has six picks that he gets to choose from and there’s such a big pool of players that its hard to choose six from those guys. It’s a tough job but over the next 13 months I need to play as well as I can to hopefully be a part of that team.”

An inspired Hatton went unbeaten (3-0-1) during a magical week in Rome last year, and the 32-year-old knows what he stands to lose if he doesn’t make it to New York.

“I’ve been fortunate to play the last three Ryder Cups and they’re the most special weeks of our lives,” he says. “We all say it as players, how much it means to us to be part of Team Europe and having your player number, that’s something nobody can ever take away from you. Having the support of a continent is pretty epic.

“That was one of the things that was part of the (LIV) decision, but you also hope that there’s going to be a way in to being part of a team and playing well in majors. Me joining LIV, I’m still a member of the DP World Tour and I’m still trying to play the tournaments that I can and to be part of the Ryder Cup. That isn’t going to change.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.