Tyrrell Hatton hasn’t looked back since leaving the PGA Tour, having made the switch to LIV Golf in January 2024.
Hatton is second in the European Ryder Cup qualification standings, with a spot at Bethpage Black looking increasingly likely.
The LIV Golf star is once again lining up for Legion XIII this season, with Hatton impressed by Tom McKibbin after his arrival on the team.
McKibbin turned many heads at the start of the year, with the Northern Irishman joining LIV Golf despite only just earning a PGA Tour card.
Legion XIII currently sit second in the LIV Golf team standings, with finishes of first, second and T5 in 2025 so far.
Tyrrell Hatton faced less of a ‘backlash’ than Phil Mickelson over LIV Golf move
Hatton is now looking to conquer LIV Golf Singapore, but he has first taken time to share insight into his defection from the PGA Tour.
“I think I was lucky that by the time I ‘went over to the other side’, the animosity and bad-feeling over LIV had sort of tailed off,” said Hatton, as quoted by Golf Monthly.
“The guys who were in the original batch of LIV golfers – the likes of [Phil] Mickelson, [Bryson] DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, even Ian Poulter, [Lee] Westwood, and Sergio Garcia – copped far more of a backlash.
“They were being called money-grabbers, and even traitors. But even though I came in for a bit of flak for supposedly selling my soul to the highest – I swear that’s how one troll put it – it wasn’t too bad. I’ve had worse stuff to deal with. A lot worse.
“And in the year or so that has passed since I joined LIV, I think there is far more of an acceptance that it isn’t the mortal enemy it was originally seen as.
“The desire for us to get along, and to mix, has grown massively. I can honestly say that I didn’t feel any resentment towards the original LIV guys.
“For me, it was more a case of being curious about whether they knew what they were getting themselves into.
“Taking a step into the unknown is always a bit scary, no matter how much money you’re getting paid for doing it.”
Tyrrell Hatton admits he had ‘a few reservations’ after joining LIV Golf
Hatton has been a regular in the 2025 LIV Golf season, playing in all three events at Riyadh, Adelaide and Hong Kong.
But it is his captain Jon Rahm who has been shining brightest for Legion XIII, with the Spaniard sitting second in the individual standings.
The two-time major champion has posted finishes of T2, six and T6, with Hatton in 21st place after finishes of T6, T23 and T20.
READ MORE: What LIV Golf has just done for the first time ever ahead of this week’s tournament in Singapore
The Englishman is undoubtedly enjoying his time on the breakaway tour, but Hatton did still have doubts after making the controversial switch.
He added: “Even when I joined, I still had a few reservations. But financial security is not something you can sniff at, and I felt the positives far outweighed any negatives, especially as there was obviously a growing sense that the two sides needed to work out a peace deal that would work for both of them. Both of us, I should say.
“And yeah, the money is a big deal – although not as big as some of the figures I heard quoted. The actual amount I was paid will remain between me, wife, my management team, and the taxman!
“But the team element of LIV and the fact that you had more control over where and when you played – away from the actual LIV events obviously – were other things that appealed to me.
“I still took a full week to make my mind up after Dubai last year, because I knew it was going to be a difficult balancing act if I did join LIV.
“There’s still lots of stuff I want to achieve in the game, and I absolutely hated that week, trying to weigh up all the pros and cons.
“In the end, I thought, ‘go for it.’ It’s a new challenge and maybe that’s what you need at this stage of your career.
“Remember, I hadn’t won on the DP World Tour since Abu Dhabi in 2021 – three years and counting, and you wonder whether you might have gone a bit stale.
“There was a lot going for it. But you can forget the stuff about playing far less golf. I actually ended up playing 27 events by the end of last year.
“I’ve only ever played more than that once in my entire career, and that was way back in 2014. And I only played 28 then.”
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