It cost him, literally, but Jon Rahm has reached an agreement with the DP World Tour that will allow the two-time major champion to compete on the European golf circuit this season.
In March, this was an outcome that felt quite distant, with the Spaniard claiming that the DP World Tour was “extorting players” who wanted to play on the circuit and return from LIV. With the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) pulling its funding of LIV, that undoubtedly changed the perspective for both Rahm and the execs of the tour.
“There’s no longer a standoff. We were able to reach an agreement. There was some concessions on both sides. I offered some; they extended an olive branch,” Rahm said, when asked about the standoff with the DP World Tour ahead of this week’s LIV event in Virginia. “Obviously, we’ve reached an agreement. That will not be a stress anymore.”
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The DP World Tour released a statement on Tuesday confirming the news of its agreement with Rahm, noting it included “payments of all outstanding fines accrued from 2024 to date.” While exact details of the agreement may never be disclosed in full, it appears to be a similar deal that eight other LIV golfers agreed to back in February to regain access to playing in DP World Tour events.
It is believed that Rahm accrued fines of up to $3 million for playing conflicting events on LIV after signing on with the league ahead of the 2024 campaign.
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This now leads us to the question of what this agreement means for Rahm’s future with LIV Golf, with the circuit’s future beyond 2026 entirely up in the air.
When asked about where things stand in terms of his future with LIV, Rahm alluded to his lengthy contract, but chose to use an interesting phrase.
“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,” Rahm explained. “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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Admitting that you “don’t see many ways out” of your multi-year contract with LIV’s future past this current season being nothing but an enormous question mark, likely wasn’t the vote of confidence LIV CEO Scott O’Neil was looking for.
Rahm coming to terms with the DP World Tour certainly feels like him cracking the door open for a potential LIV exit. That exit would be made easier if LIV doesn’t exist in the new year, but for now, he is under contract with an entity that has reportedly paid him well over $100 million.
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