Tyrrell Hatton says he expects LIV Golf to continue next year despite confirmation of job losses following the early conclusion of its season in Indianapolis last week.
The breakaway circuit that began in 2022 says it needs to find $350m (£257m) investment to survive.
LIV’s season has finished early with the cancellation of its intended finale, this week’s team championship in Detroit. Instead, Hatton is competing at the British Masters on Thursday.
“I would expect there to be LIV next season,” the 34-year-old European Ryder Cup star told reporters at the Belfry, before news broke of the job cuts.
“I know they’ve worked really hard to get the funding stuff in place and its full steam ahead on that front.”
Having lost the backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV’s future is under question. A term sheet has been signed with a potential new backer but with no confirmation that concrete funding is in place.
A LIV spokesperson has confirmed to BBC Sport that some employees are now being laid off.
“The funding commitment announced by PIF earlier this year will reach its conclusion. As a result, we are scaling back operations as we transition to the next chapter of LIV Golf and work toward making LIV 2.0 a reality,” LIV said in a statement.
“This week, we informed many of our colleagues that their employment under LIV 1.0 will end in the first week of September. We are grateful to our employees for their hard work and dedication in building LIV Golf, and we remain committed to supporting those affected through this transition.”
Amid such uncertainty, several LIV players have been linked with departing the tour, including Hatton. The Englishman chose Queen’s I Want to Break Free as walk-on music in Indianapolis last week.
Asked by BBC Sport whether anything should be read into his seemingly provocative choice of song, Hatton said: “No. I’ve still got multiple years left on my contract with LIV and as I’ve said I’ve still got plenty of tournaments to play this year, so there is nothing really to focus on other than the golf.”
Hatton will play the rest of the year on the DP World Tour, which will please European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, given that the qualifying period for the 2027 match starts this week.
While Hatton is publicly dismissing talk of jumping ship, there is still a strong feeling that he and team-mate Jon Rahm may have played their last events on the LIV tour.
If that is the case, Donald would welcome their full-time return to the DP World Tour. It would increase their chances of automatically qualifying for his team rather than having to rely on wildcard picks.
“You want to fill those six with the best,” Donald told BBC Sport. “With someone like a John or Tyrrell playing more on the DP World Tour, they’re going to have more opportunities to fill out those top six.
“And I think that’s a good thing. You want your strongest players in those top six.”
Donald also revealed that he had considered offering qualifying points to the LIV tour but the lack of clarity over the its future made it impossible.
“It was just too much uncertainty to think about giving them points for the Ryder Cup,” he said.