Golf

Ryder Cup Heroes Tommy Fleetwood And Nicolai Hojaard Reject LIV Golf’s Offer After The League’s Efforts To Hunt Down New Additions For Its Season

Suchita Chakraborty
|Published Jan 19, 2024 04:14PM UTC

Tommy Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard — Sep 30, 2023; Rome, ITALY; Team Europe golfer Nicolai Hojgaard and Team Europe golfer Tommy Fleetwood celebrate on the 16th green during day two fourballs round for the 44th Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports

LIV Golf has taken the initiative to fill up its remaining spots in the league by attracting Ryder Cup warriors with lucrative deals. As per reports, Nicolai Hojgaard and Tommy Fleetwood received multi-million dollar offers from the league, but both of them ended up turning down the deal weeks before its first event tees off.

The Telegraph has further stated that Luke Donald’s squad members were lured with tens of millions to join Jon Rahm‘s new team, Legion XIII GC, but both decided to retain their cards and stay loyal to their tours. Tyrell Hatton is LIV’s new target as they rigorously try to fill up vacant spots in the 13 teams before LIV Golf begins its third season at Mayokaba. Moreover, Hatton’s move to LIV for Rahm’s team will make sense. Let’s find out why.

Tyrell Hatton Becomes LIV Golf’s Next Target

Hatton and Rahm were paired up for the Ryder Cup on the European team. Their team won two matches in the international event. One was against Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, where they achieved a 4&3 victory. Then, they secured another win against Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay by 2&1. The golfers displayed outstanding performances in the Sunday singles. Having shared a level of understanding, it is quite likely that Hatton will join Rahm on his team.

But Fleetwood, who helped Europe win the Ryder Cup trophy at a crucial point, won’t join Rahm’s team until he appears in the 2025 Ryder Cup. Some inside reports suggest that Hatton has yet to get a formal letter but has already had the talks done with the Saudi-backed league.

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Rory McIlroy stated that he never received an offer from LIV, and Ludvig Aberg already turned down an offer from the league last year. Moreover, Aberg’s Ryder Cup partner, Viktor Hovland, also turned down any hopes for a LIV switch. As far as American golfers are concerned, Tony Finau has rejected a LIV offer and stayed with the PGA Tour.

Meanwhile, there are talks about the agreement framework, and as per latest news, DP World Tour chief Keith Pelley has confirmed that a deal will be reached by April, before he parts ways with the tour.

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About the author

Suchita Chakraborty

Suchita Chakraborty is a senior golf writer at The SportsRush. She did her post-graduation at St. Xavier's University. For a year now, she has developed a riveting inclination toward golf, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy being her top-tier motivational figures to indulge in the sport. She even lives by the words of the Hall of Famer, "You can always become better", which impels her to excel every day. Her strong suit in golf is covering the LPGA Tour, especially the nooks and crannies of the international event, the Solheim Cup. As a pastime amusement, Suchita also engages herself in reading about golf controversies. Her favorite pick is ‘LIV and Let Die’ by Alan Shipnuck, which covers the PGA-LIV beef.