Rahm's 2025 season ends, but drama continues
Spaniard's Ryder Cup future may hinge on DPWT appeal; Stray Shots on latest Tiger cut
Jon Rahm salutes Spanish fans at the end of a long 2025 season (Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Jon Rahm has a long offseason ahead. The two-time major winner who starred for Europe at the Ryder Cup last month will put the clubs away at his Scottsdale, Arizona, home for an extended time, not emerging again until the LIV Golf season begins in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
That’s not until February. And it means Rahm will skip the season-ending Race To Dubai events, including the first one in Abu Dhabi for which he would be qualified, thus meaning he won’t be part of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship which he’s won a record-sharing three times.
“I’ve never had three months off, but I’m looking forward to it,” Rahm told Spanish reporters after the Open de España. “Other athletes have it, and we’ll see. I’m lucky to be able to go home now, have a preseason, be a father, be with my family. And well, if I see that it’s too much, then maybe I won’t do it next year, but I’m looking forward to it.”
The offseason shutdown means Rahm will finish 2025 without an individual victory for the first time since 2016, the year he graduated from college and turned professional during the summer. Rahm’s 2025 campaign included 15 top-10 finishes, including in three major championships. He was a big part of the victorious European Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black and his Legion XIII squad won the LIV Golf team championship while Rahm claimed his second consecutive season-long LIV individual crown.
“On this new path, I’ve won the team league, also individually, and the Ryder Cup,” he said. “I don’t feel like I haven’t won anything this year.”
His home country event in Madrid marked Rahm’s fourth DP World Tour start of the season — along the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, BMW PGA Championship and Ryder Cup — which met the minimum requirement to retain his DP World Tour membership in 2026. Still pending is his and LIV teammate Tyrrell Hatton’s appeal regarding their suspension and fines for competing in LIV events.
Jon Rahm’s and Tyrrell Hatton’s Ryder Cup futures may hang in balance of appeal (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
If Rahm and Hatton lose their appeals, they will be required to settle the fines they owe the DP World Tour if they want to compete in the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland in 2027. Rahm has steadfastly refused to pay the fines and LIV Golf is no longer paying fines for its players after this year.
That creates a potential dilemma going forward. As a member of the DP World Tour, Rahm faces fines and suspensions every time LIV Golf plays an event at the same time. The fines and suspensions vary but over the course of 2024 and 2025 they have accumulated well beyond $1 million.
Rahm, who signed with LIV in late 2023 for a reported $300 million, can obviously handle the fines. The individual LIV title he’s won the last two years came with an additional $18 million each.
But Rahm sees it as a matter of principle. He knows that the DP World Tour wants him playing in its events, especially the Spanish Open. The tour, meanwhile, has its rules and precedent to adhere to and has not budged.
It is difficult to see a positive outcome for Rahm from the appeals board. Perhaps the DP World Tour eventually compromises with him, although that means doing so for all the other players who paid their fines in full. Look for Rahm to rescind his membership in 2026 so he doesn’t accrue more fines and attempt to play via sponsor invites. But even for that, he’d need to settle the fine situation.
All of this also puts the 2027 Ryder Cup in danger, too. You have to be a DP World Tour member to play. That means meeting the tour minimums in 2027. Without a positive resolution, Rahm is faced with paying the fines or sitting out?
Considering how important the Ryder Cup has been to Rahm and all the Spanish greats who came before him, this is a biggest element hanging in the balance. Something has to give, because its hard to imagine a Ryder Cup without Rahm in it.
“The most emotional, the most special thing has been the Ryder Cup,” Rahm said in Spain. “The only week that has a chance of matching this Ryder Cup on an emotional level will be the Spanish Ryder Cup in 2031 (at Camiral in Barcelona). It would be special, but as tough as the New York Ryder Cup was and ending up winning, I find it difficult for another week to match it.”
Perhaps that pull will get Rahm to reconsider. Or maybe he’ll win the appeal. Either way, it will be an interesting time even though Rahm will be in hibernation for the coming months.