LIV's Hatton picked for Ryder Cup warmup event for European hopefuls

VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) — Tyrrell Hatton is the only player from LIV Golf who will play in a Ryder Cup warm-up event in January overseen by Europe captain Luke Donald.

Hatton will play for Britain & Ireland against Continental Europe in the Team Cup in Abu Dhabi from Jan. 10-12. The competition is used to give European players some match-play prep and experience ahead of the Ryder Cup, whose next edition is in New York in September.

By making himself available for the Team Cup, the No. 16-ranked Hatton underlined his desire to be part of Europe's Ryder Cup team that will defend the trophy at Bethpage Black. Jon Rahm, another LIV Golf player and a stalwart of recent Ryder Cup teams, will not be playing the Team Cup while Laurie Canter, who has been a reserve player with LIV but is now back playing on the European tour, does make the Britain & Ireland team.

Francesco Molinari (Continental Europe) and Justin Rose (Britain & Ireland) will be playing captains and four players will feature who were part of Europe's Ryder Cup-winning team in Rome last year — Rose, Hatton, Nicolai Hojgaard and Tommy Fleetwood.

“This event provided valuable insight for a number of players who eventually made it to Marco Simone," said Donald, "with six of the 20 competitors in 2023 going on to play in the Ryder Cup, three of those making their debut appearances, and we’re excited to see who can make their mark in next year as they try and earn a place in my side for New York City.”

Donald, who will be Europe's captain at a second straight Ryder Cup, picked the players for the Team Cup in consultation with Molinari and Rose. The final pick for each team will be made after the Nedbank Golf Challenge next month.

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Continental Team: Francesco Molinari (captain), Nicolai Hojgaard, Rasmus Hojgaard, Matteo Manassero, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Niklas Norgaard, Thorbjorn Olesen, Matthieu Pavon, Antoine Rozner, TBC.

Britain & Ireland: Justin Rose (captain), Laurie Canter, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Aaron Rai, Jordan Smith, Matt Wallace, Paul Waring, TBC.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf