Jon Rahm is one of the best and most popular golfers in the professional game, but he is involved in a really messy situation with the DP World Tour right now.
Rahm joined LIV Golf back in 2023 and at the time, he must have been convinced that a merger with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour would happen imminently.
However, that simply hasn’t been the case and now Rahm’s participation with LIV Golf could cause a big Ryder Cup problem for Team Europe.
Should Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton be allowed to play at the 2027 Ryder Cup?
Rahm played a key role for Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team in September at Bethpage Black, as he did at Marco Simone in 2023.
He is still a hugely popular figure with non-LIV players and on his day, he’s arguably one of the best three golfers on the planet.
But could a situation arise in which the 31-year-old isn’t actually part of the Ryder Cup team at Adare Manor in Ireland next year?
DP World Tour makes statement and Jon Rahm is not mentioned
On Saturday it was announced that eight LIV golfers had been ‘granted release’ by the DP World Tour to compete on the Saudi-backed golf league.
This means they are allowed to play in certain LIV events which conflict with DP World Tour tournaments.
As a part of the deal, they will also be required to play in certain DP World Tour events, meaning that their schedules could be packed in 2026.
In total, eight players have been ‘granted release’ by the DP World Tour.
They are: Tyrrell Hatton, Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, David Puig and Elvis Smylie.
The deal set forth by the DP World Tour means they had to pay all outstanding fines, participate in a pre-agreed amount of DP World Tour events (as well as partaking in associated media activity and promotion) and withdraw all pending appeals.
So, when the story broke on Saturday, it was strange to see Rahm’s name not on the list.
The fact that Rahm was not included in the eight names listed above means there is a high probability that the Spaniard has not paid his outstanding fines.
And that could be really problematic for Rahm ahead of the Ryder Cup in 2027.
Europe claimed to have a Jon Rahm problem ahead of the 2027 Ryder Cup
Rich Beem spoke to UK broadcaster Sky Sports on Saturday evening, and delivered his take on the situation.
“Well, the DP World Tour did not want to speculate, so I guess they’re gonna leave it up to me to speculate,“ Beem joked.
“I would like to think that, you know, it has to do something with the paying of fines.
“Maybe Jon Rahm doesn’t believe he has to pay the fines, or doesn’t like the fact that they’re going to dictate the schedule to him.
Predict who the Ryder Cup captains will be in 2027 🤔
“I think that’s also, again, I think that’s a big sticking point for a lot of these players is that they’re being told where they have to go, what they have to do in order to satisfy all the rules and regulations set forth by the DP World Tour.
“I think that would be a big sticking point for a lot of the guys.
“Now, as far as it comes to the Ryder Cup, I think it could pose a problem, but we have to keep in mind, though, this is just a one year deal, this one.
“It pertains to the calendar year 2026 and has no bearing going to 2027 as of yet.
“So this is just a one year, one time deal. Remains to be seen exactly if that’s going to change in 2027 or what it’s going to look like in 2027.
“But right now it’s just for 2026 so as far as Jon Rahm and the Ryder Cup, that’s not going to quite play into anybody’s hands as of yet.“
The DP World Tour will surely come to some kind of agreement with Rahm ahead of the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.
They would just be cutting off their nose to spite their face if they don’t.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
