Jon Rahm is now back on good terms with the DP World Tour — formerly the European Tour — which sets him up for a key spot on next year’s Ryder Cup team. As far as his contract situation with LIV Golf, that’s more complicated.
Speaking to media Tuesday at LIV Golf Virginia, Rahm was asked about his contract with LIV and if there are any potential outs if he chose to return to the PGA Tour.
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“I have no idea,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you. I have very few talents in my life, and reading a contract or business are not two of them.
“Again, like you just said, as of right now, I have several years on my contract left, and I’m pretty sure they did a pretty good job when they drafted that. So I don’t see many ways out, and as of right now, I’m not really thinking about it since we still have a season to play and majors to compete for. So it’s not something I want to think about just yet.”
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His situation with the DP World Tour, however, is more certain.
Rahm and the DP World Tour had been at odds over the payment of fines for Rahm’s participation in LIV events. Unlike the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour allowed players to compete on the LIV tour provided they played in at least six DP World events, two of which were at the tour’s discretion.
Rahm had opposed both the fines and the mandated tournament appearances, and fought back even as eight other members of LIV Golf acceded to the DP World Tour’s terms. But on Tuesday, prior to LIV’s Virginia event, Rahm indicated that he and the DP World Tour had reached an agreement, with both sides offering concessions.
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“The DP World Tour and Jon Rahm have come to an agreement on conditional releases to play in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf during the remainder of its 2026 season,” the tour said in a statement released Tuesday morning. “This involves payment of all outstanding fines accrued from 2024 to date, along with participation in agreed DP World Tour tournaments (outside the majors) in the remainder of the 2026 season.”
Rahm has torched LIV this season, with two wins and three runner-up finishes over the tour’s first six events of 2026. He didn’t seem particularly concerned about how the fight with the DP World Tour would affect his Ryder Cup status; given that he’s one of the European team’s greatest players, there never was any serious doubt that he’d be in the lineup at Adare Manor in 2027.
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LIV continues to operate under a cloud of uncertainty given the fact that its Saudi benefactors will be shutting off the flow of billions that’s propped up the league in its first four-plus years of existence. Rahm joined LIV in late 2023 in a controversial move that only inflamed passions on both sides of golf’s divide. His contractual status and future are uncertain as the tour determines how to proceed without Saudi backing.