Tyrrell Hatton is shouldering the weight of a Ryder Cup row this week. He is also carrying the excess pounds of a good Christmas on his waist, judging from what he told Rory McIlroy here in Dubai on Thursday.
Naturally, onlookers may have expected their conversation to follow a different path in their first-round pairing at the Desert Classic, given what McIlroy had said about Hatton 24 hours earlier.
That was when he issued a blunt message to his European team-mate, saying he and his fellow LIV rebel Jon Rahm ought to pay the seven-figure fines at the heart of an ugly, 17-month stand-off with the DP World Tour that could leave them ineligible for the Cup in 2027. Turns out neither man fancied bringing it up again face-to-face at Emirates Golf Club.
Instead, Hatton planted his tongue in cheek and disclosed that they addressed a weightier issue – a Christmas break that has left him a stone heavier than intended.
‘We didn’t really talk about that (the fines saga),’ said Hatton. ‘It was me mainly asking if he had any good wine over Christmas, to be honest. And then he was horrified to hear what weight I was on January 1.’
Pushed to elaborate, Hatton complied: ‘I was 204 pounds (14st 6lb), which at 5ft 8in eight is aggressive. Just before Ryder Cup (last September), I was like 190 (13st 6lb), so what’s that, another stone I’d put on?
Tyrrell Hatton was in action on day one of the Desert Classic in Dubai after a post-Christmas catch-up with Rory McIlroy
Rather than discuss the fines that McIlroy has called on his Ryder Cup team-mate to pay, Hatton shared that the pair talked festive indulgence
‘I enjoyed my December. I did do some training, but zero cardio and a lot of drinking. I had a Guinness tap in the house, which was enjoyable, and now it’s time to lose a little bit of weight. I was turning like the Titanic today.’
Such is Hatton’s way, he still managed some good golf in opening his 2026 campaign with a two-under-par 70. It was three better off than McIlroy and a strong effort in blustery conditions.
But there was no disguising the storm in the desert – that ongoing dispute with the DP World Tour. McIlroy was punchy on the topic on Wednesday by telling Hatton and Rahm to prove their loyalty to Team Europe by settling the fines that Rahm estimated at around £2.6m.
As McIlroy put it, this is their chance to ‘prove’ that old European mantra of being willing to pay to play in the Cup, compared to those so-called greedy Americans.
Currently, the LIV pair are unwilling to budge as a point of principle and the situation is growing fraught. If their appeal ever makes it to court, they are expected to lose and a failure to then pay could conceivably see their Tour membership rescinded. With it would go their eligibility for Adare Manor next year.
By Thursday, Hatton had caught up with McIlroy’s remarks, but the pair swerved the topic while they were on the course.
‘I don’t think we needed to talk about that,’ Hatton said. ‘We’re out there to focus on trying to play good golf and that was pretty hard to do this morning in the conditions that we played in.
‘I did end up seeing what was said. As he said, that’s his opinion. And everyone’s allowed an opinion.’
As for the situation in general, there is an assumption that an agreement of some form will be brokered to allow a mutually-convenient climbdown, but none of the parties are yet aware of how that might be achieved.
‘I was 204 pounds (14st 6lb), which at 5ft 8in eight is aggressive. Just before Ryder Cup (last September), I was like 190 (13st 6lb),’ Hatton, pictured above at Ryder Cup, said
‘I guess something will get sorted from and, hopefully, something soon,’ Hatton said. ‘I think everyone is pretty keen for that to happen.’
Another unresolved issue in European golf is the Cup captaincy, with Luke Donald yet to accept an invitation to continue for a third term. If he declines, Francesco Molinari is favourite to take the post.
The former Open champion, 43, has drifted outside the world’s top 400 but turned back the clock with a brilliant 65 in Dubai.
Asked about the captaincy, he said: ‘I’d never turn it down if I’m asked. I’d love to do it. But if it doesn’t happen, there’s no issue.’
