Jon Rahm has refused to agree to the DP World Tour’s conditions to allow LIV golfers to play on the circuit without sanction, putting the Spaniard’s Ryder Cup future in yet more peril.
On Saturday, the Tour announced it will permit releases to members who wish to play on the Saudi-funded breakaway league, so long as they first settle their outstanding fines, drop their appeals and then agree to competing in certain stipulated tournaments that will total more than the usual minimum of four, as well participate in any associated media activity and promotion.
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Tyrrell Hatton signed up before Friday’s deadline to take the deal and that means that the Englishman will be available for next year’s Ryder Cup match at Adare Manor. But Rahm, Hatton’s Ryder Cup partner and close ally on the Legion XIII team on LIV, has dug in his heels and steadfastly declined to budge.
Even though LIV would pay the $3m fines he owes for breaking Tour rules by appearing on the rebel league – the Saudis have paid a similar sum to clear the backlog of Hatton and seven more players who had appealed – Rahm is adamant that he should not be sanctioned and has informed LIV to desist in coughing up.
Unlike Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton has paid the fines and will be eligible for next year’s Ryder Cup – Matt Turner/Shutterstock
It is also understood that the two-time major champion has told the Tour that he will only play the bare minimum of events and will not be instructed when and where to play. Rahm is the only eligible LIV player to turn down the offer from Wentworth HQ.
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The upshot is that Rahm’s appeal is still active and the Tour has already begun the process of putting together an independent panel to hear the case. If Rahm does not perform a U-Turn and loses the hearing – which, in all likelihood he would, after the likes of Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter were unsuccessful in their own appeal three years ago – then he will be required to obey the judgement and pay his fines.
If he still refuses and does not agree to the new conditions, then Rahm will lose his status as a Tour member and will be effectively banned from appearing at the biennial showdown in Co. Limerick in 19 months time and the matches thereafter.
That is a scenario the Tour has been desperate to avoid and believed they had found the perfect solution for with this peace move. Sources say the Tour has been stunned by Rahm’s belligerent stance.
For the next few months it will be a game of brinkmanship and the hope at Wentworth is that he will backtrack and recant, just as he has before. Rahm was almost excluded from last year’s Ryder Cup when he delayed appealing the sanctions until the 11th hour.
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The Tour made no mention of Rahm in its press release. The statement stressed that this only applies to current Tour members and that LIV Golf did not have any involvement in the deals that were struck with the individuals in question.
The Saudi breakaway informed its players last year that they would no longer pay the fines to the Tour, after an outlay of more than £30m. That source of revenue was a huge boost to Tour coffers, although they will now seek to replace that income with the benefits of having Hatton and others such as Adrian Meronk and Laurie Canter guaranteed to appear at stated events.
Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter were Ryder Cup stalwarts who jumped ship from the Tour to LIV – David Davies/PA
Whether the Tour will allow non-members who play on LIV to join in future is a moot point and it is a decision that would obviously have to be agreed with the PGA Tour, with whom the Tour has “a strategic alliance”. However, past members such as Poulter and Lee Westwood can rejoin if they settle their fines, although they have missed the deadline for this season.
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Last month, the PGA Tour welcomed back Brooks Koepka, after the American quit LIV and paid $5m to charity, while Patrick Reed also turned his back on LIV and is now playing full-time on the European circuit until his US ban expires in the summer. This latest move will be seen as a softening in the attitude to the players who jumped ship for the Saudi millions.
“The members who have been granted conditional releases are: Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, David Puig and Elvis Smylie,” the Tour’s statement read.
“The conditions these members have accepted will provide additional value to the DP World Tour and benefit the entire membership. Provided each member satisfies the conditions of their individual releases, no disciplinary action under the Regulations will be taken against them for playing in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf in 2026 and they will retain their membership status.
“The releases apply for the 2026 season only and they are not precedent-setting. Requests for releases will continue to be considered on their individual merits in accordance with the regulations that all members agree to abide by.”
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Rahm’s management have been contacted for comment.
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