Tyrell Hutton signs £50m deal to join LIV Golf

It is unclear whether Hatton will be allowed to continue playing in the Ryder Cup. Photo: Getty Images/David Cannon

Tyrrell Hutton will join LIV Golf in a deal worth up to £50 million and will make his debut in Mexico this week.

The 32-year-old will be part of partner Ryder's new team Jon Rahm Cup and will play in the league's first Saudi-funded season, which begins Friday. The world number 16 will withdraw from the AT&T Pebble Beach Championship, a PGA Tour event where he was entered.

The news following Rahm's £450m move last month will undoubtedly emerge as a huge challenge for Luke Donald. The European Ryder Cup captain will believe that if his team is to have any chance in New York next year, the rules must be changed to allow LIV players to compete in blue and gold.

Hatton will almost certainly not give up his DP World Tour card and will therefore remain technically eligible. But if the rules and penalties remain the same, he will receive a ban and fine every time he plays on a breakaway track, making it nearly impossible to meet the minimum requirement to participate in four regular tournaments.

Thus, Hatton, like Rahm, will lose his playing privileges in 2025 and ultimately will not be available to Donald. The pair formed an impressive pairing after beating the United States in Rome four months ago and spoke about how comfortable they feel in the partnership. They are both fiery characters whose on-field tantrums amuse as much as they offend. «Team Angry», as they were announced in the Italian capital, will now be able to play in the same colors at least 14 times per season.

Of course, all this could change if the current merger talks between the PGA Tour and DP The World Tour with the Public Investment Fund — the £700bn Saudi treasury that is funding LIV — will prove successful. The deal involved the return of the LIV rebels to Tours and presumably vice versa.

Hutton must be counting on it. Sources indicate his future in the Ryder Cup and his continued participation in major tournaments were Hatton's main concerns as he waited until the 11th hour to take part. He rejected the first offer last month, but Telegraph Sport understands he spoke to Rahm on the phone and then received an improved offer in recent weeks.

Hutton's career earnings are over £20 million. , winning six times on the DP World Tour and once in America. However, despite a strong 2023 that saw him finish in the top three, including a second place in the Players Championship, he has failed to win an individual title for three years.

Ranked 16th in the world, Hutton is the highest-ranked Briton to jump ship to LIV (Paul Casey was 27th when he joined Greg Norman's venture, while Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Richard Bland, Sam Horsfield and Graeme McDowell were outside the top 50).

But he knows that if the status quo continues, he could fall so quickly in the rankings that in 2025 he will find himself in the wilderness with no path to the Masters and will have to go through qualifying for the Open and US Open. On the contrary, thanks to his victory at the Masters last year, Rahm is guaranteed berths in all four major tournaments until 2027. And by then there will probably be some kind of solution.

Hatton was expected to appear in the first round of the $20 million AT&T Tournament on Thursday at Pebble Beach, but withdrew and LIV is likely to field him on Wednesday at Mayakoba. Adrian Meronk, another European, will also be featured as another notable player to close out the season. The Pole, ranked 39th in the world, joins Martin Kaymer's team having most recently finished second to Rory McIlroy at the Dubai Desert Classic last Sunday.

LIV will be pleased with its acquisitions once the 2023 campaign is complete. in Miami three months ago. With ongoing negotiations between the relevant parties, Ram's poaching caused chaos in the corridors of power and highlighted how important it was for the Tour to reach an agreement with LIV.

Following this discovery at El Camaleon Golf Club, located 30 minutes to the west from Cancun, LIV will play next week at the Las Vegas Country Club, using Saturday's finish to avoid a clash with the Super Bowl in Sin City on Sunday.