Rory McIlroy sees Tyrrell Hatton’s victory in Dubai as more evidence of the Ryder Cup

Rory McIlroy knows Tyrrell Hatton better than most. The two are close friends, having played in multiple Ryder Cups together, and Hatton was part of McIlroy’s TGL team before the Englishman made the jump to LIV Golf last year.

All of which means Rory McIlroy knows Tyrrell Hatton is a world-class player who is comfortable in his own skin.

That was borne out on Sunday in Dubai when Hatton shot a 3-under 69 to beat Daniel Hillier by one stroke to win the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. Hatton’s win comes a day after he found himself in hot water for destroying a tee marker during a blast on the par-3 seventh hole. Hatton shrugged off the incident and promised not to lose the “fire” that makes him Tyrrell Hatton.

Victory at the Majis Course moves Hatton back into the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking and atop the European Ryder Cup points standings with McIlroy. With limited chances of earning Ryder Cup points due to his golfing schedule at LIV, Hatton’s victory in Dubai will go a long way in helping the Englishman punch a ticket to Bethpage Black in September.

It also told McIlroy more of what he already knew: Hatton will be vital to Team Europe’s chances on enemy soil this fall.

“He does things his way,” McIlroy told reporters of Hatton after his final round on Sunday. via Bunkered. “He hits the ball very straight. He doesn’t try to shape it one way or another. He hits it really straight and it seems like he has his own types of systems and the way he practices.

“He does a really good job at it. It also doesn’t give a flying fig what someone else thinks is a really good attribute to have in the game.”

The European team will need it badly if they are to best the Americans in front of what is expected to be a wild New York crowd.

“He’s going to be great in New York,” McIlroy said of Hatton. “He’s proven that in the last three Ryder Cups. He is a great asset to the European team.”

Hatton has been open about how much each DP World Tour start means to him in terms of accumulating Ryder Cup points. The Englishman won Dunhill Links in the autumn and finished sixth in the DP Tour World Championship. Hatton wants to qualify in the points and that was on his mind on Sunday as he landed in Dubai.

“I don’t remember, it was on one of the last holes. It just randomly popped into my head thinking I’d better get over the line because I need the points,” Hatton said after his win. “It was like a random thought while I was looking at the leaderboard. I think it was on the 17th green, in fact.

“This week was massive for me. Last year’s DP World Tour events were big for me as well in terms of trying to get the points I need. I hope I can continue to do that.”

Like Jon Rahm, Hatton is appealing DP World Tour sanctions to go to LIV. If the third-party arbitrator hears the appeal before September, there is a possibility that both Hatton and Rahm will be ineligible for the Ryder Cup due to unpaid fines and unserved suspensions.

Rahm said earlier this week that he is hopeful that the complaint will not be heard until after the European Team goes to Bethpage.

“I don’t know what will happen and I hope they don’t try to resolve the appeal before The Ryder Cup. I don’t think that would be good for anybody,” Rahm said earlier in the week before missing the cut in Dubai. “But my plan is to be in Bethpage.”

So is Hatton’s and Team Europe’s “key asset” which boosted its chances of reaching New York with Tyrrell Hatton’s all-important week.

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