Why Tyrrell Hatton is back playing on DP World Tour and the 'surprising' Ryder Cup-LIV Golf discussions
With all due respect to Sir Nick Faldo, who is the tournament host, there’s another Englishman who will be the centre of attention in the Betfred British Masters when one of the DP World Tour’s iconic events gets underway at The Belfry on Thursday.
Not since the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January has Tyrrell Hatton teed up on the circuit, having signed for LIV Golf the following week and being hit with fines and suspensions every time he’s played in events on it without getting an official release from the DP World Tour.
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Hide AdIt’s only as a result of having appealed those punishments that he’s been given the green light to be one of the star attractions – the world No 36 is the highest-ranked player in the field – at the Sutton Coldfield venue, with the two-time Dunhill Links Championship winner revealing he’s also planning to play in that event later in the year and the Open de Espana as well.


“I'm delighted he wants to come and play a proper tournament,” quipped Faldo, who couldn’t resist a dig at LIV Golf’s 54-hole format, of Hatton being in a line up that contains just four other players in the world’s top 100 and, even on pro-am day, it was clear to see that the two-time Ryder Cup player’s presence this week is certainly a boost to the event and its host.
What should be pointed out first and foremost about Hatton, who was lured to LIV Golf soon after Jon Rahm signed for the Saudi-backed circuit and plays for the Spaniard’s Legion XIII, is that he’s being respectful towards full-time DP World Tour players. Before starting a chat with a small group of golf writers, he asked to move so that a fellow competitor in the $3.5 million event wasn’t going to be distracted from their work on the chipping green.
“It feels good and obviously it being a home event as well is nice,” said Hatton of being back on the DP World Tour, where he made a first appearance in 2012 and has six wins to his name, including four Rolex Series victories. “This obviously fell into a break in the LIV schedule and I always wanted to come back and play the events I could. The tour knows what events I am trying to play and we have been pretty honest with them from the start. Even the week I signed with LIV, they knew my position and how I feel about the tour.”
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Hide AdThough he admitted it’s a welcome opportunity to “see some faces I’ve not seen for a while”, the 32-year-old is here for a reason. In the first instance, he needs to make four DP World Tour appearances this year to retain his membership and, in turn, be eligible for next year’s Ryder Cup. This event marks the start of the qualification process for the match at Bethpage Black in New York and Hatton is determined to be on the European team once again.


“I want to be in the Race to Dubai final,” he said of aiming to use this tournament then the Open de Espana and Dunhill Links Championship in back-to-back weeks to get into both the Abu Dhabi Championship and DP World Tour Championship in Dubai later in the year. “I want to be in next year's Ryder Cup team and, with the points starting this week, this is a good week to play well.”
Luke Donald, the European captain, admitted earlier in the week that he wants to see both Hatton and Rahm being eligible for either automatic selection or a wildcard pick, with Hatton making an interesting comment about something that had been discussed before the qualification process was rubber-stamped.
“I made the decision to join LIV in the hope things were going to change and I know that they potentially discussed awarding points to LIV, which is maybe surprising. It didn't get passed, which isn’t surprising, but that's fine; you can tell from my demeanour I haven't got any negativity towards that,” he said, and that was indeed the case.
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Hide Ad“I know me joining LIV makes it harder to be on the Ryder Cup team and I know I'm trying to play the DP World Tour events I can to earn the points required and it won't be easy. I want to play the majors, that's also another reason why the decision wasn't easy. I'm in The Masters next year and I think I still have enough ranking points to be top 100 for the PGA. If I play really well in these next three events and get into Abu Dhabi and Dubai, hopefully finish top 30 in the Race to Dubai and then I'm in The Open, so that's just the US Open I'm not certain for. All it boils down to is playing good golf.”
No British player, of course, was more capable of that at one time than Faldo and the six-time major winner is delighted to have his name associated with this event for the second year in a row, though he was hoping to see a stronger field on this occasion.
Referring this week being the start of the penultimate phase in the DP World Tour’s new segmented schedule, he said: “Once we get this ‘Back 9’ more established, we will pick up a few players like Justin Rose, but the cool thing is it's week one of Ryder Cup points. It's a great chance for somebody and I'm leaning towards a European, I hope he wins this week and gets in there early with good points. I would have thought that would be a goal, especially after Rome (scene of a home win last year), for an awful lot of players to make the next team.”
In an event that Guide Dogs is the official charity - the host was joined by a puppy called Faldo at his media conference - BMW International Open winner Ewen Ferguson spearheads a nine-strong Scottish contingent, which also includes Tartan Tour player Paul O’Hara, who secured his spot through The PGA Play-Offs earlier in the season.
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