Tyrrell Hatton has made a last-ditch return to the DP World Tour in recent weeks to ensure he is eligible to compete for Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team in 2025
Tyrrell Hatton has played four DP World Tour events (
Image: Getty Images)
Tyrrell Hatton is set to tick off his four-event tally that will see him remain a DP World Tour member following the end of this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Hatton returned to the championship in which he is a two-time past champion, having prevailed around some of Scotland’s most iconic courses in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017. His comeback this time around is an important one, with the Englishman playing for his Ryder Cup future.
Hatton became one of the key names to make the move to LIV Golf earlier this year, following in the footsteps of his European teammate Jon Rahm to join Legion XIII in the 11th hour ahead of the 2024 LIV season.
His loyalties to the breakaway league ensured his commitments to the DP World Tour had been sparse, putting his membership with the Wentworth-based circuit at risk. There had been concerns that Hatton would lose his spot on the member list, and thus his chance to play at the 2025 Ryder Cup.
This comes due to the fact that all DP World Tour members are required to play at least four events in a year to hold onto their Tour card, a requirement to make the European Ryder Cup team. Prior to his Saudi switch, Hatton competed at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, but that proved to be it until the end of August.
The Englishman was able to return to the DP World Tour having appealed fines and suspensions put against him for for competing in ‘conflicting’ events on the LIV setup. This put Hatton in the position to compete in the remaining starts needed to tick off his four-event tally.
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Tyrrell Hatton is at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship ( Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
Having played in Dubai in January, Hatton played his second event seven months later at the Betfred British Masters. A third start then followed earlier this month, as he joined his Legion XIII teammate, Rahm at the Spanish Open, where he finished in a tie for 10th.
His all-important fourth start then came this week, having teed it up across St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns alongside his father, Jeff in the Pro-Am event. The one potential remaining question mark surrounding his Ryder Cup future centres around Hatton’s appeal against his punishments.
It remains to be seen as to when this appeal will be settled, and whether this will be done after next Autumn’s Ryder Cup in order to allow Hatton and his teammates to focus on their work on the course. Hatton’s ally, Rahm also finds himself in the same situation but is still required to tick off one more event, which is expected to come at the Andalucia Masters in two weeks.
He too has opted to appeal his punishments, having outlined he has no plans to pay his fines. Rahm said in September: “I’m not a big fan of the fines. I think I’ve been outspoken about that. I don’t intend to pay the fines, and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen.”
