Hatton slams his way to Dubai victory
Tyrrell Hatton roars after sinking winning putt that boosts his Ryder cup bid (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Tyrrell Hatton is certainly entertaining, although some might view that description in different ways. The combustible Englishman can find fault with the most miniscule of annoyances over the course of a round and in no way tries to hide it.
A day after laying waste to a plastic tee marker at Emirates Golf Club, the LIV Golf player came back on Sunday to shoot 69 and win the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
The victory moves Hatton back into the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking — no small feat with the absence of points on LIV Golf’s league. He’s assured of playing in all four majors again in 2025 and you can all but book his appearance at Bethpage Black later this year for the Ryder Cup.
“He doesn’t give a flying fig what anyone else thinks, which is a really good attribute to have in the game,” said Rory McIlroy, who rallied to finish tied for fourth in his first start of 2025. “He plays within his capabilities. He hits the ball very straight. He doesn’t try to shape it really one way or another. He has his systems and ways he practices and he does a really good job at that.”
Hatton, 33, prevailed by a shot over New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, the third round leader, when he holed a 7-footer for par on the final green.
The victory was Hatton’s fifth win in the Rolex Series — the Euro circuit’s version of signature events — and eighth DP World Tour title overall.
“It feels amazing,” Hatton said. “I said earlier in the week that this is one of the events that you’d love to have on your CV. It’s such an iconic event for the DP World Tour, and to add my name to the list of amazing champions that have been before me … to have my name on that list now is a dream come true.
“But yeah, I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous on the back nine to be honest. And, I guess I just maybe wanted it a bit too much. I knew the position I was in, and a little bit scruffy down the last. But, yeah, to see that putt go in felt amazing. Just so happy to win.”
Hatton, like Jon Rahm, is playing DP World Tour events due to an appeal made via the circuit for fines and suspensions accrued last year while competing in LIV Golf events.
The DP World Tour has allowed them to kick the resolution down the road, and it is unclear when there will be a ruling. In 2023, a UK arbitration panel ruled in the tour’s favor, saying it was within its rights to enforce its conflicting events rules.
Late last year, Rahm balked at the penalties, suggesting he wouldn’t pay them out of principle and noting that he knew the events wanted him to play. At the last minute, he appealed — as did Hatton — and thus both players are free to compete in DP World Tour events for now. Rahm missed the cut in Dubai.
Unclear is what is owed or what the suspensions entail. When both players tee it up in LIV Golf events next month, the will again face penalties that in theory can be delayed via appeal.
A deal between all the entities in golf can’t some soon enough.
“Making that decision to move over to LIV was really difficult and one that I didn’t take lightly,” Hatton said. “It was a week off after being here, and I honestly hated that week to be honest.
“But sitting here now and being able to have played DP World Tour events, and again when I signed, I feel like I went about it the right way. I spoke to the right people, and everyone knew, like, my stance and how I felt about the DP World Tour and wanting to still play events.
“With the appeal process and what’s happening there, that’s allowed me to be able to play. And I love starting my season in the Middle East. … Whatever happens with the appeal process, whenever that will be, I hope that I will still be able to continue to support this tour.”
Meanwhile, that matter of going ballistic on a tee marker Saturday.
“Just a bit of frustration. Probably shouldn’t have done it,” Hatton said. “Does it make me a bad person? No. It’s just a spur of the moment thing and it happened. I can’t go back and change it, so move on.
“I was told about it in scoring. I don’t have an issue with what was being said. I’m aware that it’s not the right thing to do but in the heat of the moment when you’re frustrated, you just do things that you probably wish you didn’t do. I’m not going to let it bother me for the rest of the day. If that’s the worst thing I do as a human, then, I mean, it’s not that bad.”
And so it was that, a day later, Hatton was holding a big early-season trophy.
LIV Golf gets TV upgrade … and money
LIV Golf’s multi-year media rights deal with Fox Sports, announced last week, will see all of its tournament rounds carried live across one of the Fox family of networks, a significant upgrade from the CW Network the past two years.
While figures were not disclosed, LIV Golf is being paid a rights fee. It’s been described as modest but not insignificant. Figure that if the number were massive, it would leak out and LIV Golf would be boasting about it.
But it is still important that LIV sees some revenue after three years of burning money without much in the way of sponsorship.
LIV Golf will still handle the production costs as well as provided the on-air talent. That alone likely wipes out any amount it is getting from Fox, which will now air ads. The LIV Golf+ app — where a good number of LIV Golf fans have maintained they watched the tournaments — will no longer be free to U.S. consumers.