LIV Golf's Jon Rahm Is Willing to Play (But Not Pay) to Maintain Ryder Cup Eligibility

The Spaniard has entered DP World Tour events but said he will not pay fines incurred for missing tournaments due to his LIV Golf schedule.

Jon Rahm is playing this week and next on LIV Golf and may have additional DP World Tour starts coming up as well. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. — Jon Rahm wants to play in next year’s Ryder Cup for Europe and said Wednesday that he has entered the Spanish Open on the DP World Tour, one of the steps in the process for meeting the minimum requirements for eligibility.

The problem is that Rahm has yet to pay the fines associated with competing in conflicting LIV Golf events, and he said that he doesn’t intend to do so.

And that will make playing in the Spanish Open, Sept. 26-29, difficult according to the DP World Tour, which has been consistent in saying that either the fines must be paid or there needs to be an appeal.

To maintain DP World Tour membership, Rahm must compete in four events this year outside of the major championships, with the Olympic Golf Tournament last month counting as one of them. He needs three more, and skipping the Spanish Open in his homeland would require adding two other events.

Short of meeting those requirements, Rahm would be ineligible to play for Europe next year at Bethpage Black against the Americans.

“I'm entered into the tournament. We entered a long time ago,” Rahm said at Bolingbrook Golf Club, where he is competing in this week’s LIV Chicago event. “Whether they let me play or not is a different thing. I'm not a big fan of the fines. I think I've been outspoken about that. I don't intend to pay the fines, and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen.

“I've said many times, I don't go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else. I think it's my duty to Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in Sotogrande (the Andalucia Masters).

“At that point, it would almost be doing not only me but Spanish golf a disservice by not letting me play, so yeah, that's why we're trying to talk to them and make that happen. I would also love to play the Dunhill (Links Championship in Scotland). I have a good friend who asked me to play, and Johan (Rupert, the event organizer) has been a great, great ambassador for the game of golf. I would love to be able to play all those events.”

Rahm’s account does not square with the DP World Tour’s view of the situation. A spokesman explained that the rules have been presented to Rahm and his representatives. Fines and suspensions differ by player and event.

“Jon has outstanding sanctions for breaches of the DP World Tour's conflicting tournament regulation. Until those outstanding sanctions are resolved, he is ineligible to play in a DP World Tour event,” the spokesman said.

Editor's note: The DP World Tour released the following statement Thursday: “Jon Rahm has a pending appeal against sanctions imposed on him and in accordance with the DP World Tour’s regulations, he is eligible to participate.”

This week, Rahm is missing the Irish Open and next week is the Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, opposite LIV Golf’s team championship.

Missing those tournaments comes with undisclosed penalties and fines and short of being resolved, there would need to be an appeal. That is what LIV Golf’s Tyrrell Hatton did two weeks ago, prior to the British Masters, where he competed. The penalties would be resolved at a later date.

A similar thing occurred two years ago when players such as Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter of LIV Golf appealed their penalties and were allowed to play the Scottish Open as the situation played out.

That situation landed at a time when the DP World Tour was awaiting an arbitration ruling that was ultimately announced last April, which said the tour was within its rights to enforce its conflicting events rules, including suspensions and fines.

Since then, players such as Joaquin Niemann, Thomas Pieters and Martin Kaymer paid fines in order to compete in DP World Tour events. The DP World Tour has since offered an appeals process.

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald made clear two weeks ago at the British Masters that the situation is up to Rahm.

“I’ve had many conversations with Jon,” Donald said. “He absolutely knows what the deal is. He knew when he signed for LIV what the policies were on the DP World Tour. You have to play your four. Per all the policies, he can pay the fines or he can appeal like some of the guys have, and that gives him the opportunity to do that.

“It’s really up to him to do that and become eligible. He certainly mentioned at the PGA Championship he was willing to do whatever it took to commit to me and the team. I hope that happens.”

Padraig Harrington, the 2021 European captain, took the DP World Tour’s stance on the matter while speaking at the Irish Open.

“I know Jon Rahm. Big fan of Jon,” Harrington said. “And if the rules are written down, you've got to go about and stick to them. That's just the way it is. It's very important for the Ryder Cup—the Ryder Cup is bigger than just the match.

“I know people want to make out that it's this one match every two years, but the Ryder Cup is the European Tour. It is the backbone of the European Tour. And I know the independent, the neutral would say, it should be just European-born players against U.S.-born players, but it's very important to the European Tour. The European Tour doesn't have a lot of leverage to get players to come across and play here."

Complicating matters further is Kelley Rahm’s pregnancy. Jon Rahm suggested earlier this year that there were some complications and she is apparently due next month during the time he might play in Europe.

The Spanish Open is in late September, followed by the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. The Andalucia Masters follows the French Open.

“There was a dark moment there with the pregnancy,” Rahm said. “When I say moment, it was every bit of two months, and I feel like we're coming out of that right now. We're towards the end. Because of the issues we've had, they probably won't let her go a lot past 38 weeks, but she keeps doing better and better, so they keep changing what her deadline is.

“I think right now, most likely if the baby doesn't come early, we might try to induce right after Dallas. It could be a case where I go home, deliver the baby, and then fly Tuesday or Wednesday to Madrid. So I could have a case of flying Thursday morning and teeing off Thursday afternoon, could have a case of flying Wednesday afternoon and teeing off Thursday morning.

“I'd say right now we have that going on, but if the baby comes early we'll see what happens. I probably would still try to go back home and spend some time with them before I'm gone for the other weeks.”

The LIV Golf Dallas event next week is the season-ending tournament. Rahm’s Legion XIII team is second in the standings. He also has a narrow lead over Joaquin Niemann in the season-long individual race, which will be decided this week.