LIV Golf player aims to secure automatic Ryder Cup qualification

Tyrrell Hatton is determined to extend his streak of securing automatic qualification for the Ryder Cup, even though this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic will be his final DP World Tour event in the year-long points battle.

The Englishman, who played in the last three contests against the Americans after gaining a spot on the European team under his own steam, sits third on the new single points list for this year’s contest at Bethpage Black in New York.

That follows Hatton winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Scottish soil for a record third time then backing up that up with a second-place finish in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship before ending his 2024 campaign by securing sixth spot in the DP World Tour Championship.

Tyrrell Hatton pictured during the Team Cup in Abu Dhabi, where he picked up three-and-a-half points from four in a winning Great Britain and Ireland side | Richard Hathcote/Getty Images

In his first outing this year, the seven-time DP World Tour winner helped Great Britain and Ireland win the Team Cup on Sunday and is now set to join his Legion XIII team-mate Jon Rahm in a strong field for the Hero Dubai Desert Classic starting at Emirates Golf Club on Thursday.

However, with the new LIV Golf season getting underway next month, Hatton’s only other opportunities to pick up Ryder Cup points before the end of the qualification campaign on 24 August will come in the four majors.

“The LIV schedule has been announced and you can see it is a very busy period from February through to the third week in August,” the 33-year-old told The Scotsman in the UAE of the breakaway circuit featuring 14 events around the world in 2025. “Fortunately for me, how I finished the back end of last year, I’m pretty sure that has secured me spots in all four majors, so it is going to be a very busy year.

“Between the Desert Classic and August, I am going to struggle to fit in any events on the DP World Tour. That’s why I’ve been saying I’ve got five events - the Desert Classic and the majors to earn points - and I think my next DP World Tour event after Dubai will be the Irish Open then Wentworth.

“Obviously last year I was sad to miss those events, especially the BMW PGA (which he watched as a kid then won in 2020) as that one means a lot to me. So I will be really excited should I have the opportunity to play it this year and, yeah, I’ll look forward to that.”

Six automatic spots will be filled from the points list while Luke Donald will then have six captain’s picks as he bids to join Tony Jacklin as the only European captain to beat the Americans both home and away after being reappointed following a 2023 win in Rome.

“By now, I guess Luke knows what I'm capable of or the type of golf that I can produce,” added Hatton of his switch to LIV Golf just under a year ago having left him with fewer opportunities to pick up points than in the past.

“Yeah, my job is harder to automatically qualify for the team, but I have five events to do that. So yeah, I'm going to give it my best. In my last three Ryder Cups, I've managed to automatically qualify and I'd love to keep that streak going.”

Hatton picked up three-and-a-half points from his four matches as Great Britain and Ireland, captained by Justin Rose, recorded a convincing 17-8 victory over Continental Europe at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

“I’m pleased with how I have performed this week,” admitted Hatton, who capped off his week by beating Thorbjorn Olesen, one of his team-mates on a winning Ryder Cup team in France in 2018, in the singles.

“Naturally, I was expecting to be pretty rusty with it being the first tournament back after a nice bit of time off. That being said, I hit balls in the simulator for ten days before coming out here and I guess that held me in good stead and yeah, I’ll take confidence from this week into the Desert Classic.”

Rose, who is being tipped to be Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 contest at Adare Manor in Ireland, was praised by both Donald and former European No 1 Tommy Fleetwood for his leadership in the UAE and Hatton added his voice to the chorus of praise.

“He was brilliant,” said the world No 17 of his compatriot. ”Really good communication, which is what you want from your captain. He brings a lot of passion to the team room and his experience as well is important. He’s had a fantastic Ryder Cup career and obviously winning a major as well and is someone I grew up watching and hoping to play alongside one day.

“I guess, in some ways, it was a surreal experience as the kid inside me is still thinking of him as someone I grew up watching. Yeah, it is sometimes mad what we experience in our lives.”

Hatton, incidentally, insisted his decision to play in the Team Cup without a hat was nothing to do with him making any sort of protest, as was believed to be the case when American Patrick Cantlay did likewise during the 2023 Ryder Cup. “Just trying to even out the tan, to be honest,” said Hatton of being hatless in Abu Dhabi.