Tyrrell Hatton’s First LIV Interview: PGA Tour Future, Rory McIlroy Comments And Why The LIV Team Format Left Him 'Envious'

Tyrrell Hatton has not given up hope of playing on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour despite his eleventh-hour move to LIV Golf.

The Englishman had been open about his talks with the Saudi-backed circuit in the last few weeks and eventually struck a deal - believed to be worth around £50million - to join up with Ryder Cup partner Jon Rahm ahead of LIV's third season.

Negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudia Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV, remain ongoing but, with no agreement in sight, Hatton will have to shelve his hopes of competing on golf's two other premier Tours for the time being.

Rory McIlroy has become the latest to soften his stance on LIV players returning to the PGA Tour, suggesting they should be offered a punishment-free pathway back and Hatton said he is more than open to that possibility.

"Well, I’ve spoken to Rory a bit in the past week and back in December. That’s kind of along the lines of what he said to me. It’s not a surprise to hear him say that in the media," the 32-year-old said at a press conference ahead of LIV Mayakoba.

"Ultimately, I would like to still be able to play events on the other two tours. But we’ll see how all that works out."

Such was the slap-dash nature of Hatton's departure for LIV Golf, the World No. 16 was still in the field for this week's Pebble Beach Pro-Am up until Monday. The six-time DP World Tour winner has endured a whirlwind few days but admitted he was starting to feel settled in his new surroundings.

"Yeah, it has that feel of like the first day at school. Kind of feel like I’m finding my feet a little bit. That’ll take a bit of time. But excited to be here and looking forward to getting started on Friday," he added.

"I’m not actually up to speed yet for all the guys on all the teams, but ultimately we’re just going out there, trying our best like we do every other week.

"With it being the first week back for a lot of guys, there’s potentially going to be a little bit of rust there. But having said that, if I go out and play a bad round of golf on Friday, I don’t really have much excuse."

Hatton's relationship with Rahm was seen as a big part of the Englishman's decision to make the switch to LIV. The two formed a superb partnership at the Ryder Cup last year and Hatton admitted that the LIV's team element was a big reason behind his decision to sign. 

"Yeah, definitely. I love the Ryder Cup. I follow other sports outside of golf that are team sports," he ended. "You’re kind of envious of those guys having that team spirit week in, week out, and that was something that was very appealing for me to come and join LIV."