The DP World Tour has ruled Jon Rahm ineligible unless he pays the outstanding fines levied against him due to his affiliation with LIV Golf. That puts his Ryder Cup prospects in peril, too.
Rahm, who is in Chicago for a LIV event this week, said he hopes to play in three DP World Tour events this fall. Two will be in his native Spain, and the other will likely be the Alfred Dunhill Links at St. Andrews. Yet, according to Matt Chivers of National Club Golfer, the DP World Tour will not let Rahm play in these tournaments.
But Rahm insists he will play in Spain and not pay the penalties.
“Well, I’m entered into the [Spanish Open]. We entered a long time ago,” Rahm said Wednesday.
“Whether they let me play or not is a different thing. 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.”
Rahm added that if the DP World Tour forbade him from playing in his national open, it would be a “disservice” to the game.
“I don’t go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else,” Rahm said.
“I think it’s my duty to Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in Sotogrande.”
To maintain DP World Tour membership and, therefore, be eligible to play on the European Ryder Cup team, a player must compete in four DP World Tour events per year. Rahm already competed in the Olympics, which counts as an event in the DP World Tour’s eyes, unlike the PGA Tour.
So, to fulfill that requirement, Rahm only needs to play in three events this fall.
“Sotogrande is the town next to Valderrama, so that’s the Andalucía Open or Masters, I think is the name, and yeah, I would go Madrid, so Open España, Dunhill, week off, Sotogrande, and I want to play all,” Rahm explained.
“I think I might be entered into both of them. We entered those events, and I want to play. That’s my intent, is to play.”
Qualifying for Bethpage Black has already begun for the European team, with the Betfred British Masters kicking off the race two weeks ago with 1,500 Ryder Cup points up for grabs. Tyrrell Hatton, another LIV player, teed it up at The Belfry then, but a discussion surrounding Hatton and any outstanding fees he may have had did not come to light. Whether he paid them off so he could play at The Belfry is unknown, but presumably, he did.
Nevertheless, the DP World Tour and Rahm have dug their heels in. Who knows who will blink first, but considering Rahm received north of $400 million to join LIV last December, he has the coffers to pay off these fines. But now, nine months after joining the Saudi-backed circuit, Rahm faces a rather interesting situation. He will have to pay to play on next year’s Ryder Cup team—not unlike how LIV paid Rahm to join their league.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.