Rory McIlroy has challenged Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm to demonstrate their commitment to the Ryder Cup cause by settling fines for their LIV Golf participation.
McIlroy pointed towards motivation used by Europe during the victory at Bethpage last September after it emerged that the US players were paid to play in the Ryder Cup.
The switches of Rahm and Hatton to LIV has drawn fines – totalling several million pounds – due to tournament conflict with the DP World Tour, where both remain members. Both golfers lodged appeals against the sanctions in 2024 but the cases are still to he heard. Rahm has been adamant he will not pay fines. The issue has potential to cause a headache for Luke Donald should he, as expected, remain as the European captain for the 2027 Ryder Cup.
McIlroy was typically forthright when asked whether Rahm and Hatton should settle the debt due to the European Tour Group. “Yes, absolutely,” the Masters champion said. “We went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup and we also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups. There’s two guys that can prove it.”
McIlroy’s sentiment is believed to be shared by other senior figures among Europe’s Ryder Cup contingent. “I think any organisation or any members’ organisation like this has a right to uphold its rules and regulations,” McIlroy said.
“What the DP World Tour are doing is upholding their rules and regulations. We, as members, sign a document at the start of every year, which has you agree to these rules and regulations. The people that made the option to go to LIV knew what they were. So I don’t see what’s wrong with that.”
Intriguingly, McIlroy has Hatton, the defending champion, for company in rounds one and two this week at the Dubai Desert Classic. The Englishman shrugged off McIlroy’s comments. “I don’t have anything to add,” Hatton said.
“I have always been extremely proud to be a member of the DP World Tour. It is pretty hard to make Ryder Cup teams and I have been fortunate to play in the last four. Hopefully I will be able to play more in the future, hopefully the only thing that stops me is age and younger talent taking my spot.
“I don’t have an update to give. It’s still with legal teams and there’s guys that are still in conversations working it all out. So I haven’t put any more thought into that. I don’t really know what’s happening. I’m just here to play golf, as always.”
McIlroy also reiterated his belief that a unified sport – where the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV operate in alignment – remains impossible. Talks between the PGA Tour and LIV broke down last year.
“I would say that is solution A,” McIlroy said of unification. “It matters. But I just don’t see a world where it can happen at this point. I definitely think the traditional tours, if you want to call them that, have weathered the worst of the storm.
“I don’t see a world where the two or three sides will give up enough. For reunification to happen, every side is going to feel like they will have lost, where you really want every side to feel like they have won. I think they are just too far apart for that to happen. I think relationships are better, but at the same time, that doesn’t necessarily mean that every organisation will give up in its own best interests.”
