Another golfing superstar has defected to LIV Golf, with world number 16 Tyrrell Hatton signing for a deal worth up to £50 million ($A96m) according to the Telegraph (UK).
The deal could be announced as soon as tomorrow, with Hatton set to withdraw from the AT&T Championship at Pebble Beach, the $20m USD PGA Tour event he was set to compete in from Thursday.
32-year-old Hatton, the highest-ranked British player to ever join LIV, will play for the new team led by Jon Rahm – and could debut in Mexico when the season opener begins at El Camaleon Golf Club on Friday.
Rahm joined LIV in a bombshell £450 million move last month, and will now reunite with his Europe Ryder Cup team partner, who were an all-action pairing as Europe beat the United States in last year’s edition.
The feisty duo quickly became known as ‘Team Angry’ for their outbursts in Rome – but now neither will be able to compete in the Ryder Cup until the ongoing merger negotiations between LIV owners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and the PGA Tour and DP World Tour are completed.
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Hatton had been the top target of LIV this off-season after Rahm’s move, having failed to sign two other Europe Ryder Cup stars in Tommy Fleetwood and Nicolai Højgaard. World number 39 Adrian Meronk of Poland is the other major signing made by LIV ahead of the new campaign.
The Telegraph reports that Hatton rejected an offer from LIV made last month, but agreed to an updated offer having also spoken to Rahm on the phone.
Hatton has won six times on the DP World Tour and once on the PGA Tour, but has not won an individual tournament in three years.
But he is in strong form after his 2023 campaign included finishing runner-up at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
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