Can Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton play in the Ryder Cup after qualification rule changes announced?
Both Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton helped Team Europe win the Ryder Cup last Autumn - but their recent move to LIV Golf could well see them not earn a spot for 2025
After Team Europe announced key changes to its 2025 Ryder Cup qualification process on Tuesday, the question on most people's lips is how does this impact Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton?
Both Rahm and Hatton played instrumental roles in Europe's thumping victory over their American rivals in Italy last October, but their spots on the 2025 roster have come into question. Just months after Ryder Cup victory at Marco Simone, Rahm and Hatton opted to make the move to LIV Golf.
And whilst the decision to make the Saudi switch does not make a player ineligible to compete for Luke Donald's European team moving forward, it does come with some complications.
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Having made the move to the LIV setup, a number of Europe's greatest Ryder Cup stars have given up their chance to represent their continent. The likes of Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood all gave up their eligibility after opting to resign their DP World Tour membership due to be fined for competing in LIV events. As things stand, both Rahm and Hatton remain members of the DP World Tour and are therefore still able to compete on the Ryder Cup stage.
The LIV duo and their fellow European hopefuls learned the pathway they will need to follow on Tuesday, after Team Europe confirmed its plans to move to a single points list to select its first six qualifiers, with the second half of the team picked by captain Donald.
Points will only be on offer at PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, but not LIV Golf tournaments. The case of Rahm and Hatton remains an interesting one. Like their fellow LIV stars, the Legion XIII duo are also expected to be financially sanctioned, and will be required to pay off those fines if they want to remain members of the Tour and Donald's team.
As well as this, the LIV Golf duo will need to play at least four DP World Tour events by the close of the year to remain on the membership list. As confirmed by the DP World Tour to Mirror Sport, Rahm and Hatton will both need to play three more events to meet this requirement.
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Hatton played his one-and-only DP World Tour event for the season in January in the weeks leading up to his move, which came at the Dubai Desert Classic. In the case of Rahm, his showing at the Olympic Games in Paris last week counted towards his DP World Tour tally for the year.
What comes next remains unknown for the most part, however both have revealed their intentions to complete their quota by the end of the year. In the case of Rahm, he revealed at last month's Open Championship his intention to play his native Spanish Open in September, permitting all goes well with the birth of his first child alongside his wife Kelley.
The Tour will then head back to Spain a month later for the Andalucia Masters, providing Rahm another chance to bank the third of his four appearances. A final option could come at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the penultimate week of the season. Three good performances could also play him into the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, where the Tour's top-50 players compete for the Race to Dubai crown.
Hatton too has revealed his plans to play the Spanish Open, as well as the British Masters and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship - an event he has won twice - in order to complete his requirements. He will no doubt have interest in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as a previous winner, and admitted he is hoping to play his way into the season finale in Dubai in November.
As mentioned, the pair will also be required to pay any outstanding fines to maintain their Ryder Cup chances. For now, it remains to be seen what their sanctioning figure stands at, but Rahm revealed at Royal Troon that he remains in conversations with the Tour.
"We're still in conversations with the Tour," he said at last month's Open. "I haven't been able to play any Tour events, so yeah, we're going to have to sort it out... I haven't paid [fines] yet, but again, I just don't know when I'm going to play."
Rahm and Hatton do remain eligible to wear European colours in New York next Autumn, but have some boxes to tick before they are able to do so.
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