Tyrrell Hatton will return to the DP World Tour for the first time since joining LIV Golf when the British Masters presented by Sir Nick Faldo is held at The Belfry on August 29.
The Briton joined the Saudi-backed tour earlier this year for a reported $65 million transfer fee Hatton joins Ryder Cup star Jon Rahm as part of the Legion XIII team, the first new team to join LIV Golf since its inception in 2022.
Since signing, the former Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner has helped the team climb to second place in the league’s team standings, while also notching a solo victory at the LIV Golf Nashville, his first professional title since his 2021 triumph at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
He last played on the DP World Tour at the Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club earlier this year, but will now return to the British Masters, a global golf tour event, to secure his place as a Rolex Series champion between 2020 and 2024.
While players such as Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson have quit the DP World Tour after joining LIV Golf, Hatton, along with Dubai residents Adrian Melonk and Jon Rahm, have chosen to remain on the DP World Tour.
This is probably because you have to be a DP World Tour member to be eligible to play in the Ryder Cup.
After switching to LIV Golf shortly after the Dubai Desert Classic, Hatton was fined and banned for a week every time he competed in a LIV event. The LIV Golf schedule features 14 events around the world, and it was thought that Rahm and Hatton, among others, would be banned for 14 weeks after the final event of the LIV season in September.
This makes retaining DP World Tour membership, which requires members to play at least four tournaments per season, almost impossible.
But that was clarified in April by new DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings, who found that Brexiteers could enforce the ban during LIV rest weeks throughout the year, even if they had no intention of playing in those events.
Given that Hatton will be competing next week, one must assume that he has paid any fines due from the DP World Tour, while also competing in that event and fulfilling the terms of his ban to ensure he is eligible for the final stretch of the season, which includes the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
If Hatton wants to make the DP World Tour play-offs in the UAE, he must finish in the top 70 in the Race to Dubai the week before the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and in the top 50 before the DP World Tour Championship. The 32-year-old currently sits 82nd in the season rankings.
Another possibility is that rather than paying the fine, Hatton and his team managed to reach an agreement with DP World Tour chiefs to allow him to compete. DP World and the PGA Tour are currently in talks with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to bridge the gap in the tournament.
Did the negotiations between golf's biggest tours work out in Hatton's favor, allowing him to escape a fine while the DP World Tour gets one of its biggest stars back for the final tournament of the season? At this point, we're not entirely sure, as neither side has made any statements and they may be keeping a low profile for now to avoid angering those loyal to the DP World Tour.
What we do know is that Hatton’s return to the DP World Tour couldn’t come at a better time, as qualification for the European Ryder Cup team for 2025 begins at the British Masters. The six-time DP World Tour champion will no doubt be looking to get off to a fast start ahead of captain Luke Donald as he looks to build on his success at the biennial tournament in Europe and the United States.
