PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – The much-anticipated news that Tyrrell Hatton was joining Jon Rahm’s LIV Golf team surprised no one, and as a testament to the game’s shifting sensibilities, it angered few.
Entering its second full season, LIV Golf has divided the sport and created polarizing debates, but news that Hatton’s move to the circuit was official was met, at least in one corner, by indifference.
“I feel like at this point, I’m not over it, it’s just kind of is what it is,” Justin Thomas said Tuesday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. “I’ve definitely found that out over this whole process, that people obviously are going to think about it differently than others, but there’s just people that they’re going to make decisions for what they think is best.
“I might disagree with maybe some of them, but I think at the end of the day, if that’s what Tyrrell thinks is best for him, then that’s what he’s got to do.”
Hatton joined Rahm’s Legion XIII team and begins play this week at LIV Golf’s season opener in Mexico. Former college standout Caleb Surratt and Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent will also be on the Spaniard’s team.
Rahm’s move to LIV Golf late last year was met with mixed reactions, but some have softened their stance as the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns LIV, continue to negotiate toward a deal that would combine the two circuits under a single, for-profit entity.
“Obviously, I’m bummed, and I wish he wasn’t [joining LIV Golf], but it’s not like I’m going to call him and give him some spiel about how he shouldn’t,” Thomas said. “I hope he’s done his homework and research and feels it’s the best decision, but it is what it is I guess.”
