Ryder Cup Team Europe’s former captain Bernhard Langer seeks to ensure LIV Golf players Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton can compete at the biennial event. Langer urged eligibility changes to be made by the DP World Tour ahead of the Ryder Cup to be held at Bethpage Black in September 2025.
The DP World Tour currently requires Ryder Cup players to be active members and denies LIV Golf players from participating in the Ryder Cup. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton joined LIV Golf’s Legion XIII in 2024. The players could face suspensions and fines related to their ties with the Saudi-based league.
Former captain Bernhard Langer recently told Sky Sports:
“Tyrrell Hatton is a major winner ready to happen…You can’t not play the strongest team. The Ryder Cup would be very diminished without Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, for sure.”
Legion XIII’s Rahm and Tyrrell were key parts of Europe’s 2023 Ryder Cup victory in Rome. The players are keen on participating but the decision lies in the DP World Tour’s hands.
Rory McIlroy told Sky Sports reporters earlier this year that Rahm “is going to be playing” in 2025 and that the tour will just have to “rewrite the rules.”
However, McIlroy had previously taken a strong stance against LIV Golf players’ eligibility to play at the Ryder Cup. McIlroy said during a PGA Tour press conference at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome:
“I have said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: I don’t think any of those guys should be on the Ryder Cup team.”
Rahm also talked about LIV Golf and the Ryder Cup in a PGA Tour press conference ahead of his move to LIV Golf in 2023.
“The Ryder Cup is not the PGA Tour and European Tour against LIV – it’s Europe versus the US, period. The best of each against the other, and for me the Ryder Cup is above all. I wish they could play but it doesn’t look good.”
Jon Rahm and LIV Golf’s Legion XIII
Jon Rahm moved to LIV Golf ahead of the 2024 season to captain Legion XIII. Rahm announced the name at a LIV Golf press conference and explained that he chose the team name as he wanted it to resemble “warrior spirit mythology.”
Rahm asked Ryder Cup teammate Tyrell Hatton to join Legion XIII for a reported $60 million. He also signed Caleb Surratt and Kieran Vincent onto the team.
Legion XIII won their second title at LIV Golf Miami with a final round score of one-under par after their inaugural win at Mayakoba.
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton played and made the cut at the 2024 Masters at Augusta National. Rahm finished tied for 45th at 9 over through four rounds. Hatton shot 3-under during the fourth round to secure a top-10 finish with a total score of even.
Among the thirteen LIV Golf players at the 2024 Masters, Tyrrell Hatton had the third-best score. Bryson Dechambeau and Cameron Smith tied for sixth at 2-under par. Patrick Reed followed Hatton with a top-15 finish and tied for 12th at 1-over.
