Jon Rahm said he would have agreed to the DP World Tour’s offer that eight other LIV Golf players accepted allowing them to play this year without releases and fines had the tour agreed to his stipulation that he only be required to play four events.
Speaking in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning ahead of this week’s LIV Golf Hong Kong event, Rahm spoke extensively on the issue that could possibly keep him from playing in the 2027 Ryder Cup if it is not resolved in his favor.
The DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) on Feb. 21 announced that eight players had agreed to terms that will see all past fines paid while dropping appeals and agreeing to play extra events at the Tour’s choosing in addition to the four required. In return, the players will not be forced to seek releases to play conflicting LIV Golf events, which for the last four years has caused members to be fined and suspended.
Rahm has balked at being told he must add events.
“I did tell them, funny enough, lower that to four events, like the minimum says, and I’ll sign tonight,” Rahm said at a news conference at Hong Kong Golf Club. “They haven’t agreed to that. I just refuse to play six events. I don’t want to, and that’s not what the rules say.”
Rahm has said previously he doesn’t believe he should have to pay fines for missing events he would not have played anyway. His fines are believed to be in excess of $2 million, a tab LIV Golf would pay through 2025.
He appealed the fines in September 2024, which allowed him to remain a member and compete in last year’s Ryder Cup. A hearing date has not been set.
If he loses the appeal, he’d be required to pay outstanding fines in order to participate in any DP World Tour events—including the Ryder Cup next year at Adare Manor in Ireland.
If he wins, the DP World Tour would undoubtedly face litigation, and yet it won an arbitration panel case in 2023 which ruled it was within its rights to impose fines and suspensions, per its conflicting events rules.
“I don’t like what they’re doing currently with the contract they’re having us sign. I don’t like the conditions,” Rahm said. “They’re asking me to play a minimum of six events, and they dictate where two of those have to be, amongst other things that I don’t agree with.
“If we just go based on that—I’ve been a dual member my whole career, PGA Tour and DP World Tour. Now with LIV Golf being accepted in the world rankings as part of the ecosystem, you could almost say a three-tour member, even though I’m suspended from the PGA Tour.
“But I’ve always been a dual member. Never once have I been asked for a release to play either one of those tours. We’ve never submitted a release. So why is it now that we need to be offering this and there’s all these penalties? What’s the problem?”
(When Rahm was a member of the PGA Tour, he was not required to get releases to play in DP World Tour events under the “home tour” rule which stipulates unlimited releases in Europe and the Middle East as long as you play the minimum of 15 events on the PGA Tour.)
Rahm’s LIV Golf teammate was among eight agreeing to the DP World Tour’s terms
The eight players who agree to the terms were Rahm’s Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton, Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, David Puig and Elvis Smylie.
The DP World Tour plays the Joburg Open this week in South Africa, which puts Rahm in violation and subject to penalties. The others no longer have to worry about that.
“I don’t know what game they’re trying to play right now, but it just seems like in a way they’re using us to—they’re using our impact in tournaments and fining us and trying to benefit both ways from what we have to offer, and it’s just in a way they’re extorting players like myself and young players that have nothing to do with the politics of the game,” Rahm said. “So I don’t like the situation and I’m not going to agree to that.”
Rahm was asked about comments Rory McIlroy made earlier this year in Dubai. McIlroy said that European players had made it a point to say—unlike their American counterparts who were getting compensated—that they’d compete in the Ryder Cup for free.
“There’s two guys who can prove it. Great,” McIlroy said, referring to Rahm and Hatton.
“That statement would make a lot more sense if all 12 of us were being asked to pay, not only just the two of us,” Rahm said. “There’s more intricacy that goes into this whole situation, right. While I understand why he’s saying that, we all do it for the love of the game, it’s a different situation than what we usually see.
“I’ll gladly pay my way to go on the Ryder Cup, not have to pay to still be a member of the DP World Tour and fulfill a commitment that I’m fully willing to commit.”
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