Luke Donald ducks Jon Rahm Ryder Cup question: “Nothing to do with me”

Rahm lodged his appeal hours before teeing it up in his home open in Madrid having previously explained that he had precisely zero plans to pay them off.

The Spaniard also did not want LIV’s financiers, the PIF of Saudi Arabia, to pay the reported £1,000,000 he owes out of a matter of principle.

Hatton has also decided to follow the same route as Rahm.

GolfMagic understands both appeals are unlikely to be heard before the end of the year.

But there is also the distinct possibility that the issue won’t be settled until after the 2025 match in New York.

Given the precedent that was set in April 2023 (when the DP World Tour won their arbitration case against LIV Golf), it seems almost a foregone conclusion that Hatton and Rahm’s appeals will be rejected.

Therefore it is likely they will be told to pay up if they want to wear the Ryder Cup Europe colours.

Should the appeals not be heard swiftly, some sceptics may argue that Rahm and Hatton have received different treatment compared to the likes of Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Sergio Garcia.

European Tour Group chief executive Guy Kinnings told reporters at Wentworth last month that the timeline is out of his hands.

“The lawyers involved will dictate the legal process as to when it gets done,” he said.

“There’s no fixed, set formula to that, and so we’ll just wait and see how long it takes to reach that appeal process.”

It was clear Kinnings was also hopeful a deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and aforementioned PIF may eradicate the issue.

Donald, no doubt, wants to have Hatton and Rahm involved if Team Europe are to have any chance of an upset in the Big Apple.

But he distanced himself from the subject considerably when asked by BBC Sport.

“It’s nothing to do with me,” he said.

“That’s outside my control and we’ll have to see how that plays out.

“It’s something the DP World Tour are dealing with and they’ll deal with it in the best way possible.”

Donald said he’s in regular contact with Rahm and Hatton.

He was delighted to see Hatton win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, he said, and claimed there are other players on the Saudi-backed breakaway that could make his final 12.

“The DP World Tour’s policies have been very consistent,” he said.

“There’s been a lot of clarity around that. It’s really the same as it was in Rome.

“You have to be a member of The European Tour and born in Europe.

“If you fulfill the regulations and the rules that the DP World Tour set, then you’re eligible.

“There’s a bunch of LIV guys that play on LIV that they are eligible now; so I can pick them at will.”