FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) 鈥 There was wine, margaritas and some kind of 鈥渟trawberry lemonade vodka thing.鈥 Tyrrell Hatton’s celebration just for making the Ryder Cup team sounds like quite a blast.
Europe might have another one coming Sunday, thanks in part to Hatton’s sterling play alongside partner 鈥 and drinking buddy, during that celebration 鈥 Jon Rahm.
Hatton and Rahm paired for , beating Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, 3 and 2, to remain undefeated as a team in the Ryder Cup. They are 4-0 in foursomes, approaching the famed 鈥淪panish Armada鈥 of Seve Ballesteros and Jos茅 Mar铆a Olaz谩bal for most points earned by teammates in that format.
Hatton, who is from England, and Rahm, who is from Spain, recall barely talking to each other in 2018 in Paris, when they were Ryder Cup rookies. But they have built a solid friendship, strengthened by being LIV Golf teammates, and perhaps that’s helping them play such dominant golf.
鈥淲e鈥檝e shared the golf course for many, many holes, and it鈥檚 absolutely incredible watching him play, and what he did on the greens today was nothing short of spectacular,鈥 Rahm said after the morning victory.
Hatton and Rahm went back out with different partners in the afternoon, but they appear at their best together, two guys with perhaps less hair and bigger stomachs than when they started but matching temperaments for the ups and downs of match play.
鈥淲ell, he鈥檚 certainly a good partner to play with,鈥 Hatton said. 鈥淗e pulls out some unbelievable shots at very special times. Yeah, he鈥檚 an incredible player, and a good person to walk the fairways with.鈥
LIV players face a tough road to the Ryder Cup, with limited opportunities to play in events in which they can earn qualifying points. Hatton did what he could to capitalize on them, with a victory this year in Dubai, a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open and a tie for 14th at the Masters.
But he thought he would be passed in Europe’s standings late in the season. When captain Luke Donald called Hatton to say and he would be on the for a fourth consecutive time, the party started.
They had just finished playing in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and were celebrating not only Hatton’s Ryder Cup spot but also their team title at LIV Golf 鈥 Legion III is captained by Rahm. Hatton drank himself to sickness 鈥 鈥淚 do not want to feel that bad the next day. Yeah, that was aggressive,鈥 he said 鈥 but Rahm understood why.
鈥淲hat he did is outstanding. I understand why he was 鈥 the pride he felt, why he wanted to celebrate. And plus being the end of the season for us,鈥 Rahm recalled just before the Ryder Cup began.
鈥淏ut the problem was the amount of things we mixed. I鈥檓 not going to get into amounts. I鈥檓 sure he did. But between wine, gin and tonic, Amaretto Sours, one margarita for some reason and then this strawberry lemonade vodka thing that we don鈥檛 know what it was, the bartender was very creative. That was just a little bit too much, yeah. None of us were feeling good on Monday, but he was definitely feeling the worst.鈥
They’ve clearly recovered. 4 and 3 in the first match of the event Friday before going out third Saturday. Combine those with their two victories in Rome in 2023 and they are tied for third all-time in points in foursomes play, with Ballesteros and Olaz谩bal having racked up 6 1/2.
鈥淚 mean, ultimately, we鈥檝e gone out there with a job to try and win a point for Europe,鈥 Hatton said. 鈥淛ust so happy that we are able to do that.鈥
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