Hours after Ian Poulter announced his exit from LIV Golf 2.0 and just days after several others did the same, Tyrrell Hatton added his name to the list of LIV defectors when he posted on social media Friday that he will not be a part of the league next season.
Poulter issued a long statement on his social media accounts, although Hatton kept his brief and to an Instagram story.
“Wanted to confirm that I will not be a part of LIV Golf 2.0,” he wrote, in text laid over an image of Hatton walking on a golf course. “A big thank you to everyone for their continued support. I am excited for what the next chapter of my career holds. Looking forward to seeing you all in Abu Dhabi.”
Hatton’s de-commitment from LIV Golf is not surprising, although it is more bad news for LIV and the new-look LIV Golf 2.0, which has 10 events (five in the U.S., five outside of it) scheduled for 2027. In short, the league, which recently filed for bankruptcy, needs key players to sign on to retain its $300 million initial committed investment from BC Partners Credit, but in the last month several notable names have dropped out. A deadline for commitments is Sunday. (In a bankruptcy hearing last week, a judge approved LIV’s request to reject 19 player contracts, giving them the ability to play elsewhere or negotiate new deals with LIV.)
Louis Oosthuizen, Thomas Pieters, Charles Howell III, David Puig, Abraham Ancer and, of course, Jon Rahm, have already announced they won’t join LIV 2.0. The Hatton departure, like Rahm, stings a bit more though, as LIV was already short on high-profile names. Despite playing on LIV the last two seasons, where it’s more difficult to rack up World Ranking points, the 35-year-old Hatton is still 26th in the World and finished top 10 in two majors last season. His T3 at the Masters was the best major finish of his career.
The DP World Tour said last week it would no longer permit LIV players to compete on the DP World Tour — which would keep them from being eligible for the Ryder Cup — and it appears Hatton now has his path forward for next season. He’d still be suspended by the PGA Tour, but the top finishers on the DP World Tour at year’s end receive PGA Tour cards for the next season. That’s how Patrick Reed, while waiting out a suspension, earned his way back for 2027, although it’s unclear how many cards will be handed out in the future.
Hatton mentioned Abu Dhabi in his post, referring to the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship Nov. 5-8. That will be Rahm’s next start too, and in two weeks from now the future of LIV could look much different. Whatever it is then, it will be interesting to see what some of its former stars — Rahm, Hatton and others — say about their decisions then.
The Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship is the penultimate event of the DP World Tour Season, setting the stage for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship Nov. 12-15 in Dubai.
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