Jon Rahm doesn’t have specifics, but he is happy that one of LIV Golf’s looming questions appears close to being answered.
Social media account @FlushingIt reported that the DP World Tour is working toward a resolution with LIV Golf, under which it would stop fining LIV players for competing in conflicting events starting this year. Rahm, who told GOLF’s Subpar Podcast he amassed around $3 million in fines over the past two seasons, is looking forward to a resolution.
“I personally would say I don’t know too much about the matter,” Rahm said at LIV’s event this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “Obviously, I think at first, managers are going to be taking care of that early on. I don’t know what the negotiations look like. Obviously, they’re going to players individually to make different deals. I don’t know what it may be or what it’s going to look like, but I’m happy to see that looking for a path forward for LIV players to be able to play on both tours and not to get penalized.”
Part of the DP World Tour’s reported offer is that players will still have to pay the outstanding fines that they have accrued. Sports Illustrated reported that LIV is working with the DP World Tour to have those current fines eliminated or reduced.
Rahm has said that he will not pay his fines. Both he and Tyrrell Hatton are awaiting the outcome of an appeal they filed in 2024 to determine if the fines are legal. Rahm and Hatton were able to play on the 2025 Ryder Cup team because the case has not yet been settled. Rory McIlroy suggested the two European stalwarts just cut the check so their Ryder Cup availability is not in doubt.
“Look, this is my opinion,” McIlroy said at the Dubai Desert Classic. “We went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup, and we also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups. There’s two guys that can prove it. Great.”
The two-time major champion believes the reported solution, which includes the DP World Tour selecting a handful of events that players must participate in, is good for the health of both LIV and the DP World Tour, especially given the number of young European players who have chosen to play on LIV.
“I think the example of players like Tom [McKibbin] or David Puig, who’s now a winner on the European Tour, who just chose the best path possible as young players, shouldn’t be penalized because of the politics of the game,” Rahm said. “The fact that they’re looking at a positive way to figure it out, I think it’s only good for us, and I think it’s good for the DP World Tour as well.”
At the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Puig and Patrick Reed both said they would pay any fine handed out by the DP World Tour to maintain their status. Reed has since left LIV Golf and plans to rejoin the PGA Tour in August, when he becomes eligible. LIV Golf has previously paid the fines, but will no longer do so starting this year.
But there is at least positive momentum toward answering one of the questions surrounding LIV Golf, its players and their future. But bigger ones remain, especially if the existing fines, the ones Rahm and Hatton have said they won’t pay, aren’t wiped clean.
