Hatton dismisses LIV tension with McIlroy as talk in Dubai focuses on wines not fines

No apparent ill-feeling between Ryder Cup pair

‘I asked if he had any good wine over Christmas’

The talk was of wines, not fines. Any notion of an awkward 18 holes between Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton was firmly dismissed by the Englishman in the immediate aftermath. McIlroy used pre-tournament media duties at the Dubai Desert Classic to assert that Hatton and Jon Rahm should settle their seven-figure penalties due to the European Tour Group for their participation in LIV Golf.

McIlroy’s sentiment felt especially notable because he was to spend the opening two rounds at the Emirates Club in Hatton’s company. Yet there appeared no ill feeling whatsoever between the Ryder Cup teammates; as evident on the course and by what Hatton said later.

“We didn’t really talk about that,” Hatton said. “It was me mainly asking if he had any good wine over Christmas. It was better than the wine I was drinking but my wine was very nice, too. And then he was horrified to hear what weight I was on 1 January.”