Two of LIV Golf’s biggest names are set to make their PGA Tour return. Here’s why they’re allowed…

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton have been confirmed in the field for next month’s Genesis Scottish Open for what will be their first appearance in a PGA Tour-run event since moving to LIV Golf.

Rahm hasn’t played in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event outside the majors since the 2023 Tour Championship – just four months before the Spaniard stunned the sporting world by signing for LIV in a deal reported to be worth up to $650 million.     

Hatton, meanwhile, played in the Hawaii swing – The Sentry and Sony Open – on the PGA Tour in January 2024 before deciding to join Rahm’s newly-formed Legion XIII team ahead of LIV’s third season.

A social media post from the official Genesis Scottish Open account shared a graphic of the “contingent of European Ryder Cup stars” heading to Scotland’s Golf Coast in a couple of weeks.   

And along with Ludvig Aberg, Shane Lowry, Francesco Molinari, Padraig Harrington, Alex Noren, Sepp Straka, Bernd Wiesberger, and the Hojgaard twins, Nicolai and Rasmus, were Rahm and Hatton.

So why are they allowed to tee up, given they are currently serving PGA Tour bans for their involvement with LIV Golf? It is, quite simply, because the Scottish Open is co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour, of which Rahm and Hatton are members, and the field will be made up of a largely equal share of players from each.

In the early part of his career, Rahm preferred the Irish Open as his links preparation ahead of the Open Championship, but did tee up at Renaissance in 2021 and ’22, when he finished 7th and tied-55th respectively.

Rahm, who accused the DP World Tour of “extorting its own players” earlier this year before doing a full one-eighty, will tee up at Renaissance as part of his agreement with the Wentworth-based circuit to earn back his tour card. He also settled his fines, which were believed to be in the region of $2.5 million.

Hatton, meanwhile, has a solid record in this tournament. The Englishman’s first three appearances included a T4 and a runner-up spot, and since the semi-permanent move to Renaissance in 2019, he’s finished T14, T18, T24 and T6.      

Having won LIV Golf’s most recent event in Andalucia and followed it up with a tie for 7th at the US Open, Hatton will fancy his chances.

It also means the duo will tee up for three straight weeks, with the Scottish Open – where Chris Gotterup will defend his title – followed immediately by the 154th playing for the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale, and then the LIV Golf UK event at the JCB Country Club.

Rahm and Hatton’s Legion XIII teammate Caleb Surratt, meanwhile, has decided to take an entirely different approach to fill the long wait between LIV’s summer events.