One of the major concerns for golf fans when Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton decided to join LIV Golf ahead of the 2024 season centred around what their decisions would mean for their chances of representing Europe in the 2025 Ryder Cup.
Europe did not have a single LIV Golf player involved in Rome in 2023, with many of the team’s Ryder Cup legends deciding to resign their DP World Tour membership in the wake of their moves to LIV. But Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton following the likes of Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter undoubtedly threw a massive spanner in the works.
Rahm is, after Rory McIlroy, Europe’s best player. Meanwhile, he formed a superb partnership with Hatton, particularly in Rome. And, unsurprisingly, the duo have been amongst LIV’s best players this year.
Nevertheless, when Team Europe announced their points system for qualification for the Ryder Cup team, they confirmed that no points would be gained from LIV events. There would however, be greater weight placed on performances in signature events on the PGA Tour.
Luke Donald shares whether DP World Tour considered awarding points for LIV events
That is obviously going to make life trickier for the likes of Rahm and Hatton. Nevertheless, speaking to Sky Sports, Luke Donald suggested that the DP World Tour saw little need to change things up when asked whether it was considered awarding points for LIV events.
“It was certainly talked about. Again, that was a decision that rested on the DP World Tour, and with negotiations and where we are with the game of golf, it didn’t feel it was necessary,” he said.
“Again, that wasn’t the case in Rome and we’ve been very consistent with that process. So we’re happy with the qualification criteria and I think everyone, including the guys on LIV, are happy and understand that as well.”
The right decision
With Donald having six captain’s picks, there is less pressure on the likes of Rahm and Hatton to qualify automatically. Unless they are suffering with injury, you would imagine that they will be in the team one way or another.
But it is perhaps going to be harder for someone like Adrian Meronk who did not quite do enough to make the team for Rome. Meronk had an unspectacular first year on LIV. And thus, it would be quite easy for him to get completely lost in the shuffle when he is not collecting points and regularly competing with those also looking to catch Donald’s eye.
However, the DP World Tour also need to think about their own events. One of the main reasons a player would not want to jump to LIV is because of the detrimental impact it would have on making a Ryder Cup team. While Rahm and Hatton have some security, others would not be in the same boat.
If qualification points were awarded in LIV events, some on the DP World Tour would surely question why they would not want to jump ship and take the riches on offer.
Golf fans would surely like to think that the game’s divide will have healed by the time qualification for the 2027 Ryder Cup begins. But for Bethpage, the DP World Tour have surely made the right call.
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