It is a much-awaited debut with huge crowds expected at DLF Golf & Country Club and the reigning US Open champion is clearly up for the occasion, hoping the trip makes a huge impact on the game of golf in the world’s most populous country.
The pathways for players to earn their way into the LIV Golf League – or play their way out – will more closely resemble a promotion-relegation system after league officials clarified how the rules apply to LIV Golf team captains on the eve of its individual finale in Chicago.
Hatton reportedly received a $US60 million signing bonus. He had been in negotiations for more than a month, and it is believed the hold-up was due to Ryder Cup eligibility concerns going forward. However, it was his Europe teammate, Rory McIlroy, who put his mind at ease.
When McIlroy assumes the role of player director next year, it will mark the first time that an international player has served on the tour’s policy board since its inception in 1969.
This week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, however, has drawn the shortest end of the COVID stick. What is normally a week-long party by the sea has taken on a rather subdued atmosphere.
At the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour, that meant a new driver shaft and wedge grind for Adam Scott, a putter switch for Jon Rahm and Lefty doing Lefty things. On the European Tour, Paul Casey had a new driver in the bag for his win in Dubai.
Casey was openly emotional in the immediate aftermath of a victory that will provide a boost to his prospects of making a fourth Ryder Cup appearance and, if the games happen, an Olympic debut in British colours.
Australian Golf Digest
