LIV golfer Tyrrell Hatton is set to tee it up at the British Masters at the Belfry on the DP World Tour next week as he begins his bid to qualify for next year’s Ryder Cup team.
Hatton left the DP World Tour to join LIV golf in January and has been playing exclusively on the Saudi-backed circuit since then, except for the four major championships.
Over the last eight months his world ranking has fallen from 16 to 34, with a tied ninth at the Masters and tied 26th at the US Open helping him from slipping out of the word’s top 50.
However, Hatton wants to keep his DP World Tour card so he can be eligible to play for Europe in the 2025 Ryder Cup in New York. To keep his card, he must play in four DP World Tour events outside of the majors.
Hatton is still a member of the DP World Tour and has stated he intends to play the British Masters, Dunhill Links and Spanish Open in his bid to qualify for the Ryder Cup team.
Like other LIV Golf players who haven’t given up membership of the tours that they left, Hatton has accrued a hefty number of fines for playing in LIV events that conflict with DP World Tour events.
However, he has appealed against the fines, the result of which is still to be resolved, leaving the door open for him to compete in DP World Tour events. Hatton has not made it clear whether he would be prepared to pay those fines should he lose his appeal.
A spokesperson for the DP World Tour said: “Tyrrell has a pending appeal against sanctions imposed on him for breaching the DP World Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation, and in accordance with the DP World Tour’s Regulations, he is eligible to participate in the Betfred British Masters.”
Hatton last played on the DP World Tour in January at the Dubai Desert Classic where he finished tied for 9th. He then joined LIV Golf for a reported $50m signing on fee and has since earned over $10m in prize money and currently sits in fifth place on LIV’s individual order of merit.
Hatton will not be competing in next month’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth (19-22 Sept) because it is being held at the same time as LIV Golf’s season-ending Team Championship in Dallas. He won the BMW PGA Championship in 2020.
It is unlikely that European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald will offer any picks to LIV golfers, meaning that Hatton will have to finish inside the top six in the Ryder Cup points list if he is to make the team.