“Not Pay the Fine and Resign”: LIV Golfer Addresses Rory McIlroy’s Stance on Rahm and Hatton Situation
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The debate over Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton's Ryder Cup future has a solution, according to Rory McIlroy: pay the fines.
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton have come under scrutiny as golfers and fans question their eligibility for the 2027 Ryder Cup. The one question that still revolves is whether Rahm and Hatton can pay their fines easily.
Ahead of the Dubai Desert Classic, Rory McIlroy had a simple solution. According to 42-time international winner Lee Westwood, McIlroy was absolutely correct. Taking to X, he went on to suggest a few steps that the DP World Tour can take to bring Rahm and Hatton back into the roster.
The 52-year-old Englishman wrote, “The [DP World Tour] should set Jon and Tyrell’s appeal date for mid February. Then nobody can have any complaints. Everyone will have been treated the same. If they lose their appeal they either have to pay the fines and can carry on or not pay the fines and resign and not be available for Ryder Cup.”
Westwood’s words echoed those of McIlroy. After all, the 2025 Masters Tournament champion seemed to have faith in Hatton and Rahm.
Admitting the ease of paying up their fines, Rory McIlroy stated, “We went really hard on the Americans last year about wanting [to be] paid to play the Ryder Cup, and we all sat up there and said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups. There’s two guys that can prove it.”
The members of the DP World Tour sign a document at the beginning of the year. By doing so, the members agree to the rules and regulations of the tour.
When golfers made the decision to move to LIV Golf, they knew exactly what rules they were about to break. Reflecting on that, McIlroy claimed that he doesn’t see anything wrong in the way the tour reacted.
But do you know how the reigning Dubai Desert Classic champion reacted to McIlroy’s words?
Tyrrell Hatton Weighs In on Rory McIlroy’s Opinion
When Hatton got to know about McIlroy’s stance, he appeared genuinely shocked. But when asked to talk about it, he dodged.
“I’ve literally just come off a pro-am. I’m not on my phone in the pro-am. So I don’t really have anything to add towards what he said.”
Nevertheless, Westwood’s push for a mid-February appeal date is practical and defensible, and if adopted, it would compel the DP World Tour to deliver a final, enforceable decision that applies equally to all players. And that would create a rule-based standard for future cases.
But do you agree with Westwood and McIlroy?
Written by
Krushna Pattnaik
Edited by
Oajaswini Prabhu