Rahm won't settle to preserve Euro tour bond

Stubborn unwillingness to join Hatton and others in DPWT deal may cost Ryder Cup

Jon Rahm defiantly refuses to pay fines and take DPWT’s release deal to remain eligible (Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton joined LIV Golf together in 2024 and are teammates on the Legion XIII team. But they’ve chosen different paths as it relates to the opportunity presented to them by the DP World Tour.

Hatton jumped at a settlement to maintain eligible with his original professional home. Rahm balked.

Beyond the inter-Legion XII drama, future Ryder Cup eligibility hangs in the balance.

The DP World Tour reached agreement with eight LIV golfers which will allow them to compete on the European circuit this year without conflicting event releases or penalties. There are stipulations, to be sure. Some of which might also upset Rahm. But the pathway is there to maintain good graces.

Rahm has said previously that he will not pay accrued fines — believed to be in excess of $2 million — and has appealed the sanctions. An arbitration hearing date has yet to be set. If he loses the appeal, he’ll be required to pay outstanding fines in order to participate in any DP World Tour events — an essential prerequisite to be eligible to play for Team Europe in the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland.

The DP World Tour issued a statement Saturday morning saying that eight members (seven of them European) have been granted conditional releases upon the basis of agreeing to certain terms — Hatton, Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, David Puig and Australian Elvis Smylie.

In return, those players have agreed to settle all previous fines, drop any appeals and add additional stipulated DPWT events (believed to be two or three) to their schedules beyond the required minimum of four events.

“The conditions these members have accepted will provide additional value to the DP World Tour and benefit to the entire membership,” the tour’s statement said. “Provided each member satisfies the conditions of their individual releases, no disciplinary action under the Regulations will be taken against them for playing in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf in 2026 and they will retain their membership status.

“The releases apply for the 2026 season only and they are not precedent-setting. Requests for releases will continue to be considered on their individual merits in accordance with the Regulations that all members agree to abide by.”

Ryder Cup veteran Tyrrell Hatton withdrew his appeal and settled with DPWT (Jon Ferrey/LIV Golf)

These agreements came together outside of LIV Golf and with the individual players.

LIV players such as Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are not DP World Tour members. Westwood and Poulter resigned their memberships since joining LIV and Garcia failed to play the minimum four tournaments in 2025 to keep his membership. But because he has satisfied previous fines, Garcia is able to accept sponsor invites to DPWT events this year.

Rahm said at LIV’s season-opener in Riyadh earlier this month that he was happy to see some progress.

“I personally would say I don’t know too much about the matter,” Rahm said. “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.”

Rahm has maintained that he believes the fines are unwarranted since the European tour’s events want his participation, especially those in his native Spain.

In 2024, when Rahm first appealed the fines, he said: “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.”

In 2023, a UK arbitration panel ruled that the DP World Tour was within its rights to impose sanctions upon members who violated its conflicting events rules. A player must seek a release to play in events outside of the tour (similar to the PGA Tour) and LIV players who are contracted to play in their events faced fines that LIV Golf was paying through 2025.

In two weeks, the DPWT has the Joburg Open in South Africa while LIV Golf resumes its schedule in Hong Kong. The players who made the deal will not be required to get a conflicting-event release. But Rahm would and thus will be in violation of the rules, leading to more fines.

Last month, Rory McIlroy called for valuable Ryder Cup veterans such as Rahm and Hatton to pay their fines and move on.

“I think any organization or any members’ organization like this has a right to uphold its rules and regulations,” McIlroy said at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. “What the DP World Tour is doing is upholding its rules and regulations. We, as members, sign a document at the start of every year, which has you agree to these rules and regulations.

“The people that made the option to go to LIV knew what they were. So, I don’t see what’s wrong with that.”

Rory also added that Rahm and Hatton could prove a point that Team Europe used as a rallying cry when it was announced American players would be paid to play in the Ryder Cup.

“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,” McIlroy said in January.

“There are two guys that can prove it.”

Hatton made good on that opportunity. Rahm still hasn’t, and his unwillingness to come to terms with abiding by the rules may leaving him watching the next Ryder Cup play out without him.