One day after McIlroy told Rahm and Hatton to fork out for their seven-figure fines, the latter was paired with the five-time major winner at the Dubai Desert Classic. However, Hatton insisted the £4.5million elephant in the room was not brought up.
When asked if it had been discussed, Hatton replied: « We didn’t really talk about that. It was me mainly asking if he had any good wine over Christmas.
« It was better than the wine I was drinking, but my wine was very nice, too. And then he was horrified to hear what weight I was on 1 January. »
After Hatton confirmed he had ballooned up to 204lbs – around 14.5 stone – he added: « Which at 5ft 8in is aggressive. Just before the Ryder Cup, I was 190lbs. So what’s that, another stone I’d put on.
« I enjoyed my December, zero cardio and a lot of drinking. I had a Guinness tap in the house, which was enjoyable. So now it is time to lose a little bit of weight. »
When asked about McIlroy’s blunt comments, in which he said Hatton and Rahm should « absolutely » pay their fines because the pair « made the option to go to LIV [and] knew what they [rules and regulations] were, » the World No.21 continued: « I ended up seeing what was said.
« And, as he said, that’s his opinion. Everyone is allowed an opinion. I guess something will get sorted, hopefully, soon. Everyone is pretty keen for that to happen. »
McIlroy ended round one in the United Arab Emirates eight shots behind current leader Francesco Molinari, after carding a frustrating one-over-par 73. Meanwhile, Hatton is still in the chase, trailing Molinari by four shots.
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