Negotiations over a final agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, owners of LIV Golf, continued last week with a meeting in New York. And that’s good news for the European Ryder Cup team.
Why? Because several European stars ply their trades on LIV Golf, and those players are currently ineligible to compete in the biennial contest that resumes next fall at Bethpage Black.
The most notable among them is two-time major champion and former World No. 1 Jon Rahm, who left the PGA Tour for LIV this season, then won the 2024 LIV individual title last week.
LIV just ‘dropped’ a Masters champ. But what happens next?
Rahm is arguably still the best European pro golfer, but he’s so far refused to pay hefty fines levied against him by the DP World Tour to regain membership on that tour. Without it, he can’t play in the Ryder Cup.
Justin Rose, another longtime European Ryder Cup star who, along with Rahm, helped the team to a big victory at the 2023 event in Rome, is among those players hoping a deal gets done so they can fortify the team with LIV stars like Rahm.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of this week’s BMW PGA Championship, Rose revealed that he hopes talks between the PGA Tour “accelerate” in order to help Team Europe in 2025.
“I think we need things to accelerate quickly,” Rose explained. “Obviously the lads who have gone off to LIV — there was a period of time now where obviously we’re seeing scenarios with Tyrrell [Hatton] and Jon [Rahm] having gone, as well, but they’re still very much current in terms of form of playing in the Ryder Cup, and I know there’s a few outstanding I’s to be dotted and T’s to be crossed for them to be eligible, but I think the sentiment in the team is we want the best players playing.”
Rose then argued that without a final deal, the pathway to the Ryder Cup for players like Rahm and fellow LIV pro Tyrrell Hatton narrows, saying, “I think the world of golf does need to start resolving itself quickly because there is still a little bit of a divide, us, them, LIV. I think it’s hard to make those admissions back into the fray unless we’re all on the same path pretty quickly.”
But there is one current way for LIV stars to gain eligibility for the European Ryder Cup without a PGA Tour-PIF deal in place. Unlike the PGA Tour, which banned LIV defectors from playing in Tour events, the DP World Tour instead fined and suspended its players who joined the upstart league.
Should any LIV pro pay the fines and serve the suspension, they regain membership and Ryder Cup eligibility. There’s a recent example to prove that fact.
Bernd Wiesberger was among the first players to join LIV back in 2022. In 2024, he chose to take the existing pathway back to the DP World Tour, paying his substantial fines and serving his suspension. Last week, Rahm appealed his fines and suspension, allowing him to temporarily play DP World Tour events without punishment.
In an interview with bunkered, Wiesberger expressed frustration with Rahm’s “loophole,” which Hatton also followed previously.
‘Sour taste’: Ex-LIV pro calls out Jon Rahm’s loophole back to DP World Tour, Ryder Cup
“I don’t really like the look of it,” Wiesberger told bunkered, “…This ‘going around corners’ now, I don’t really like it, but I like that we have the best players possible playing our tournaments. It’s a little bit of a conundrum in that sense for me.”
When asked if there was a chance Rahm and Hatton wouldn’t be on the team next year, Rose admitted it was possible, but he also noted the existing pathway they could take if a deal doesn’t get done.
“There’s quite a simple pathway for them to be on the team. So I don’t think — it’s going to come down to their own personal decisions,” Rose said, “but I think if they choose to cooperate or go with the structure that’s in place, they’ll absolutely be on the team.”
Rahm and Hatton’s absence would be particularly painful for Team Europe because they went 2-0 as a team at the 2023 Ryder Cup, a partnership that has continued on LIV as both players are on Rahm’s Legion XIII team.
Rose said Rahm and Hatton’s absence from the Ryder Cup “would be to Europe’s detriment for sure. Great players. And obviously bonded, as well. They were great together in Rome. They’re a pairing. Those types of connections are powerful. They’re quite difficult to recreate. Obviously, we hope that we find natural pairings in the next year or that turn up in Bethpage and emerge. But if you have working partnerships, that’s also a really, really important and powerful part of the team. “
But players’ concerns aren’t limited to the 2025 Ryder Cup, they’re also looking to the future, specifically in terms of future captains.
In his Tuesday press conference, Rose noted that if the European Ryder Cup team wants the “best players” on the team, regardless of which tour they play, the “same would be extended into the captaincy role” for former European Ryder Cup stars turned-LIV pros like Ian Poulter.
Poulter has one of the best Ryder Cup records in history, and he was long thought of as a future European team captain. But he lost eligibility when he joined LIV. Players like Poulter are even more dependent on a final PGA Tour-PIF deal to keep their Ryder Cup hopes alive.
In an interview with Al Arabiya English, Poulter spoke on that point, saying, “The rules that have been set in place are difficult — there’s no compromise. I think everyone is aware that players need to play their minimum amount on the European tour to be able to be eligible to play. It’s difficult for me personally – I find myself in a tricky position, where I’m not a member, and I obviously can’t become eligible to be part of a team or even help out as a Vice Captain or Captain unless I do become a member again. It’s not the best scenario, but it’s one that the tour is sticking to.”
So a deal between the PGA Tour and PIF appears to necessary for Poulter to get back into the Ryder Cup mix, and Rose admitted he hoped a deal would be finalized for that reason.
“I think for that to happen for [Poulter], I can definitely see that pathway,” Rose said. “But I think the world of golf needs to make it happen, as well, for him.”
