Rory McIlroy sees Tyrrell Hatton’s Dubai as further proof of the Ryder Cup

Rory McIlroy knows Tyrrell Hatton better than most. The two are close friends, having played in several Ryder Cups together and Hatton was part of McIlroy’s TGL team before the Englishman made the jump to LIV Golf last year.

All this means that Rory McIlroy knows that Tyrrell Hatton is a world-class player who is comfortable in his own skin.

That paid off on Sunday in Dubai when Hatton shot a 3-under 69 to beat Daniel Hillier by one shot to win the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. Hatton’s win comes a day after he found himself in hot water for destroying the tee marker during a blast on the par-3 seventh hole. Hatton dismissed the incident and promised that he would never lose the “fire” that makes him Tyrrell Hatton.

A win on the Majis Course would move Hatton back into the top 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings and joint top European Ryder Cup points with McIlroy. With little chance of earning Ryder Cup points due to his LIV Golf schedule, Hatton’s victory in Dubai will go a long way in helping the Englishman punch his ticket to the Bethpage Black in September.

It also showed McIlroy much of what he already knew: Hatton will be crucial to Team Europe’s chances on enemy soil this fall.

“He does things his way,” McIlroy told reporters of Hatton after his final round on Sunday, via Bunkered. “He hits the ball very straight. He doesn’t really try to shape it in some way. He’s hitting it really straight and it looks like he has his own kind of plans and practice.

“He’s doing a really good job at that. And he doesn’t give a flying fig what anyone else thinks which is a really good quality to have in the game.”

The European team will need a lot of that if they are to defeat the American team in front of what is expected to be a riot in New York.

“He’s going to be amazing in New York,” McIlroy said of Hatton. “He’s proven that in the last three Ryder Cups. He is a great asset to the European team.”

Hatton has been open about what each DP World Tour means to him in terms of accumulating Ryder Cup points. The Englishman won the Dunhill Links in the fall and finished sixth in the DP World Tour Championship. Hatton wants to get in the points and that was on his mind on Sunday when he landed in Dubai.

“I don’t remember, it was on one of the last few holes. It just entered my head and I thought, it would be good to cross the line because I need the points,” said Hatton after his win. “That’s just a random thought as I look at the leaderboard. I think it was on the 17th green, actually.

“This week has been a big one for me. The last few events last year on the DP World Tour were big for me as well in terms of trying to get the points I need. I hope I can continue to do that.”

Like Jon Rahm, Hatton is appealing the DP World Tour ban by going to LIV. If a third-party arbitrator hears the appeal before September, there is a chance that both Hatton and Rahm will be ineligible for the Ryder Cup because of the outstanding fines and suspensions that were not served.

Rahm said earlier in the week that he hoped the appeal would not be heard until after the European delegation headed to Bethpage.

“I don’t know what will happen, and I hope they don’t try to settle the complaint before the Ryder Cup. “I don’t think that would be good for anybody,” Rahm said earlier in the week before he missed Dubai. “But my plan is to be in Bethpage.”

Thus Hatton’s “huge assets” and the European Group increased his chances of reaching New York in Tyrrell Hatton’s important week.

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