01 February 2024 , 20:33
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Tyrrell Hatton has admitted he spoke with Rory McIlroy in the days following his decision to make the move to LIV Golf.
Hatton became LIV's latest mega-money signing, agreeing a deal worth a reported £50 million to make the Saudi switch. The Englishman has teamed up with his Ryder Cup partner Jon Rahm, and both will make their debuts on the circuit in Mexico this week.
The move of Hatton came as a surprise to many, with the European star admitting he was content with his place on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour at the Dubai Desert Classic last month.
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Just two weeks later he was announced as a LIV Golf player, in what would have been a bitter pill to swallow for McIlroy, who has been openly critical of the league in the past. It appears the Northern Irishman is beginning to soften his stance though following the moves of Rahm and Hatton.
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After the Spaniard's move in December, McIlroy revealed he still wanted to see the Spaniard represent Europe on the Ryder Cup stage despite his LIV links. And on the back of Hatton's switch this week, the four-time major winner once again appeared open-minded.
Speaking ahead of this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, McIlroy admitted he would be open to allowing LIV players to return to the Tour, with bans currently being handed out to those who make the Saudi switch. "Guys made choices to go and play LIV, guys made choices to stay here," McIlroy said this week.
Rory McIlroy has softened his LIV Golf stance (2022 Getty Images)"If people still have eligibility on this tour and they want to come back and play or you want to try and do something, let them come back. I mean, I don't - I don't think - I think it's hard to punish people.
"I don't think there should be a punishment for - obviously I've changed my tune on that because I see where golf is and I see that having a diminished PGA Tour and having a diminished LIV Tour or anything else is bad for both parties."
The day after Hatton was quizzed on McIlroy's comments, and revealed he had consulted with his Ryder Cup teammate on the back of his decision to defect. “Well, I've spoken to Rory a bit in the past week and back in December," he said.
"That's kind of along the lines of what he said to me. It's not a surprise to hear him say that in the media. Ultimately, I would like to still be able to play events on the other two tours. But we'll see how all that works out.” The Northern Irishman's u-turn was also welcomed by Rahm too.
"I would pretty much say the same along the lines of what Tyrrell said. I haven't spoken to [McIlroy] a lot recently," Rahm claimed. "But he might have had a change in thought process, as in maybe with some of the things he said in the past. I think he might be seeing that the landscape of golf is changing and at some point you need to evolve.
"So I think he might be seeing that, and everybody is entitled to their opinion, but it's nice to have the support from a player the caliber of Rory, especially those Ryder Cup remarks he made early on. I think that's an important statement for change to be said."