‘Pay up’: Rory McIlroy delivers Ryder Cup warning to LIV pair Hatton and Rahm
Rory McIlroy has challenged Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm to demonstrate their commitment to the Ryder Cup cause by settling fines for their LIV Golf participation.McIlroy pointed towards motivation used by Europe during victory at Bethpage last September after it emerged the United States players were paid to play in the Ryder Cup.The switches of Rahm and Hatton to LIV has drawn fines – totalling several million pounds – due to tournament conflict with the DP World Tour, where both remain members.Both golfers launched appeals against the sanctions in 2024 but the cases are still to he heard.Rahm has been adamant he will not pay fines.
The issue has potential to cause a headache for Luke Donald should he, as expected, remain as the European captain for 2027’s Ryder Cup.McIlroy was typically forthright when asked whether Rahm and Hatton should settle the debt due to the European Tour Group.“Yes, absolutely,” said the Masters champion.“We went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup and we also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups.There’s two guys that can prove it.
”McIlroy’s sentiment is believed to be shared by other senior figures among Europe’s Ryder Cup contingent.“I think any organisation or any members’ organisation like this has a right to uphold its rules and regulations,” McIlroy said.“What the DP World Tour are doing is upholding their rules and regulations.We, as members, sign a document at the start of every year, which has you agree to these rules and regulations.The people that made the option to go to LIV knew what they were.
So I don’t see what’s wrong with that,”Intriguingly, McIlroy has Hatton, the defending champion, for company in rounds one and two at this week’s Dubai Desert Classic,The Englishman shrugged off McIlroy’s comments,“I don’t have anything to add,” said Hatton,“I have always been extremely proud to be a member of the DP World Tour.
It is pretty hard to make Ryder Cup teams and I have been fortunate to play in the last four.Hopefully I will be able to play more in the future, hopefully the only thing that stops me is age and younger talent taking my spot.“I don’t have an update to give.It’s still with legal teams and there’s guys that are still in conversations working it all out.So I haven’t put any more thought into that.
I don’t really know what’s happening.I’m just here to play golf, as always.”McIlroy also reiterated his belief that a unified sport – where the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV operate in alignment – remains impossible.Talks between the PGA Tour and LIV broke down last year.“I would say that is solution A,” McIlroy said of unification.
“It matters,But I just don’t see a world where it can happen at this point,I definitely think the traditional tours, if you want to call them that, have weathered the worst of the storm,“I don’t see a world where the two or three sides will give up enough,For reunification to happen, every side is going to feel like they will have lost, where you really want every side to feel like they have won.
I think they are just too far apart for that to happen,I think relationships are better, but at the same time, that doesn’t necessarily mean that every organisation will give up in its own best interests,”
Nato chief urges ‘thoughtful diplomacy’ after US treasury secretary’s jibe at Denmark
Donald Trump has landed in Switzerland for the Davos global gathering as Nato’s secretary general said “thoughtful diplomacy” was the only way to deal with growing transatlantic tensions, remarks that came shortly after the US treasury secretary had dismissed Denmark as an irrelevance.The US president’s threats to seize Greenland, a largely self-governing part of Denmark, risk tearing the transatlantic alliance apart, while his promise to impose tariffs on European nations who oppose him could trigger a trade war with the EU.Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town on Wednesday, Nato’s Mark Rutte said that there were “tensions at the moment” but that talks, and a concerted drive to bolster Arctic security, were the only ways forward.He dismissed fears that the Greenland crisis could unravel the 76-year-old alliance, and pushed back at repeated comments from Trump casting doubt on whether its European members would help to defend the US if asked, saying: “They will.”Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, earlier dismissed Denmark as “irrelevant” and brushed aside claims that European investors, such as Denmark’s pension funds, might pull out of the US market
Next buyout saves footwear brand Russell & Bromley but 400 jobs likely to be lost
Next has rescued the footwear retailer Russell & Bromley out of administration for £3.8m but about 400 jobs are likely to go at 33 shops not included in the deal.The British brand, founded in 1879 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, trades from 36 stores and nine concessions across the UK and Ireland. Next will take on only three stores – in Chelsea, Mayfair and the Bluewater shopping centre – and about 48 store staff, it is understood.The rescue deal, which includes Russell & Bromley’s brand and other assets including £1
Elon Musk floats idea of buying Ryanair after calling CEO ‘an idiot’
Elon Musk has floated the idea of buying the budget airline Ryanair, escalating his public spat with the Irish carrier’s boss, Michael O’Leary.The two outspoken businessmen have locked horns since last week, when O’Leary was asked whether he would follow Lufthansa and British Airways in installing Musk’s Starlink satellite internet technology on his fleet of 650 aircraft.The Ryanair chief executive rejected the idea, saying that adding antennas to the jets would result in “2% fuel drag”, adding an extra $200m-$250m to its $5bn (£3.71bn) annual kerosene bill.Musk said that interpretation was “misinformed” in a post on his X platform, prompting a tit-for-tat exchange of insults, with each calling the other an “idiot” and then the Tesla and SpaceX CEO saying O’Leary should be fired
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AI Chatbots are now a part of everyday life. ChatGPT surpassed 800 million weekly active users in late 2025. Some people are forming relationships with these chatbots, using them for companionship, mental health support, and even as therapists. Has a chatbot helped you get through a difficult period in life? If so, we’d like to hear about it.You can tell us how an AI chatbot has helped you get through a difficult period in life using this form
Australian Open 2026: De Minaur, Zverev, Tiafoe and Andreeva win, Raducanu out – as it happened
Right, that’s all the matches done on day four and all from me on this blog. Thanks for reading, and here is some more for you if you are catching up. Bye!Jovic will play Paolini in the third round. What a tantalising match that is – the pair met at the US Open a few months ago with Paolini winning in straight sets. But Jovic was asked about that defeat and says she is “much improved” since August
Mayfield claps back at former coach Stefanski and says Browns treated him like ‘garbage’
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield has vented his frustrations over the treatment he received from his former head coach Kevin Stefanski, who he will now face twice a year as an opponent. Mayfield played for Stefanski at the Cleveland Browns before he was traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2022. The two are now major figures in the NFC South after Atlanta hired Stefanski as head coach on Saturday.Mayfield appeared to be angered after an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter posted that Stefanski said Mayfield and another Browns quarterback, Deshaun Watson, had “failed” in Cleveland.“Failed is quite the reach pal
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