Tyrrell Hatton says he expects LIV Golf to continue despite reported job cuts

Tyrrell Hatton said at the Belfry on Thursday, where he is competing in the British Masters, that he expects LIV Golf to continue next season despite confirmation of job losses after the breakaway tour ended its season early in Indianapolis last week.

LIV Golf, which began in 2022, has said it needs to find $350m (£257m) of investment to survive and finished its season early after cancelling this week’s intended team championship in Detroit. Hatton spoke to reporters at the Belfry before news of the staff reductions emerged and said: "I would expect there to be LIV next season."

Hatton added: "I know they've worked really hard to get the funding stuff in place and its full steam ahead on that front." The player is competing at the British Masters on Thursday and has been linked in media reports with a potential departure from LIV.

LIV has lost the backing of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and, the organisation says, has a term sheet with a potential new backer but no confirmation of concrete funding. A LIV spokesperson confirmed to BBC Sport that some employees are being laid off.

LIV issued a statement saying: "The funding commitment announced by PIF earlier this year will reach its conclusion. As a result, we are scaling back operations as we transition to the next chapter of LIV Golf and work toward making LIV 2.0 a reality." The statement continued: "This week, we informed many of our colleagues that their employment under LIV 1.0 will end in the first week of September. We are grateful to our employees for their hard work and dedication in building LIV Golf, and we remain committed to supporting those affected through this transition."

Hatton revealed he chose Queen's I Want to Break Free as walk-on music in Indianapolis last week; when asked if the choice should be read as a signal he replied: "No. I've still got multiple years left on my contract with LIV and as I've said I've still got plenty of tournaments to play this year, so there is nothing really to focus on other than the golf." He will play the rest of the year on the DP World Tour.

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald said he would welcome full-time returns to the DP World Tour from players such as Hatton and Jon Rahm, adding: "You want to fill those six with the best. With someone like a John or Tyrrell playing more on the DP World Tour, they're going to have more opportunities to fill out those top six. "And I think that's a good thing. You want your strongest players in those top six." Donald also said: "It was just too much uncertainty to think about giving them points for the Ryder Cup." He expanded on the wider challenge, saying: "I think every captain deals with a lot of challenges in the Ryder Cup," Donald said. "I think I've probably been the only one to deal with a changing landscape in golf. "And it's been challenging at times, you know, it certainly has. But I think one of my strengths is just being very much in the present and having high standards for things that I can control and not really caring about things out of my control. "Just dealing with them as they come. So, again, nobody knows what the future of LIV is going to be next year. Nobody knows which players are going to come and which are going to go. "I try not to lose too much sleep about it, because it's just out of my control. Once it happens, then if I have an opportunity to change that, then I will. If not, I'm just going to go about my business."

Earlier this year the DP World Tour struck a deal with several LIV players, including Hatton and Rahm, allowing them to compete on the rival circuit without sanction so they could remain members of the DP World Tour and be eligible for the Ryder Cup; that agreement applies only to this year and will not be available in 2027. Hatton said: "I've played the last four, they are extremely hard to make those teams. "Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be in every team possible moving forward." On his immediate priorities he added: "I mean we still have to finish this season," he insisted. "I'll essentially worry about that at the end of this season, but right now it is not really a thought process for me." The qualifying period for the 2027 Ryder Cup starts this week.