Jon Rahm's Ryder Cup future is more uncertain than ever – just ask him

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. — The Ryder Cup is more than a year away, but Jon Rahm's involvement remains unclear. He is alone in this endeavor and he knows it.

Rahm has set his sights on playing three DP World Tour events in the next six weeks, which would normally be an easy addition to the schedule, but this is not a normal time. Additionally, Rahm has two LIV events in the next six weeks and a new baby will be joining his family. But before that happens, Rahm needs to do something about the fines he's facing from the DP World Tour. Either pay the fines or file an appeal, as Tyrrell Hatton recently did. Otherwise, Rahm will not be playing in the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black next fall. (Obligatory asterisk: We live in fluid times. Regulations can change. Rory McIlroy basically asked for things to change once Rahm decided to play LIV golf.)

It has been discussed more and more over the summer. Rahm needs to play four tournaments on the DP World Tour this season to maintain his membership for 2025, which is his mandatory ticket to become a member of the Ryder Cup team. So far he has played only one, the Olympics in France, which counted toward his total. According to Rahm, he has signed up for three tournaments to meet that minimum, starting with the Spanish Open in three weeks, the Dunhill Links a week later and the Andalucia Masters, also in Spain.

According to DP World Tour, Rahm is currently not eligible to participate.

“Jon is subject to sanctions for violations of the DP World Tour's conflicting tournament rules,” a tour spokesperson said. “Until these outstanding sanctions are resolved, he is ineligible to compete in a DP World Tour event.”

These “sanctions” are suspensions and fines that he will incur for each start at LIV Golf. Since the earliest days of professional golf's Civil War era, the DP World Tour has imposed one-tournament suspensions and £100,000 fines on its members who play tournaments without conflicting Tour event clearances. While it's understandable that Rahm has enough free weeks in his schedule to find room for the one-week suspensions, he's clearly not interested in paying the fines.

“I'm not a big fan of the fines,” Rahm said at the LIV Golf Individual Championship on the outskirts of Chicago, where he and Joaquin Niemann held a joint press conference on Wednesday.

“I think I have made myself clear on this. I do not intend to pay the fines and we are continuing to try to have a discussion with [the DPWT] about how we can achieve that. I have said many times that I am not going to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else. I think it is my duty to Spanish golf to be there and I also want to play in Sotogrande.

“At this point, it would almost be a disservice to me and to Spanish golf if I wasn't allowed to play. So yes, that's why we're trying to talk to them and make that happen. I would also like to play at the Dunhill. [Links Championship]. A good friend asked me if I wanted to play and Johan is a great ambassador for golf. I would love to be part of all these events.”

At this point, Rahm is put in a situation where rules are rules. But not a completely hopeless one. Rahm's Legion 13 teammate, Tyrrell Hatton, faced the same battle but was allowed to play without penalty because he appealed the sanctions and found a middle ground, a somewhat indefinite suspension of the penalty, that allowed Hatton to play in the Betfred British Masters earlier this month. The same will allow him to play in the events Rahm is aiming for later this month. But it's a formality Hatton was aiming for that Rahm appears not to have fulfilled yet. He has not appealed his sanctions.

Are we dealing with a stalemate here? It looks like it. But there is a deadline for all of this. Rahm admitted that the registration schedule for spots at the Spanish Open ends at noon on Thursday. He may have a grace period in which he can pay fines or appeal in the following days, but the dates of the Spanish Open are not changing. It begins in Madrid in two weeks.

“I think not only do I need to play these three, but I want to play these events,” Rahm said. They're fun. I didn't play well in my last experience at the Dunhill, so maybe I can redeem myself a little bit, although playing for the fourth week in a row after having a baby might be a bit much, especially for the Scottish weather and Carnoustie. But I'm still looking forward to some really fun golf tournaments.”

Golf fans, especially LIV golf fans, may recognise parts of this situation. Some of the first LIV members were regulars on Europe's best Ryder Cup teams. Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia were all stars in previous Ryder Cups but were not involved in the 2023 Cup as they had cancelled their memberships.

The final days of Garcia's membership were marred by a dispute over unpaid fines. Lee Westwood admitted earlier this year that he owed more than a million dollars in unpaid fines from the DP World Tour, and until he paid them off, he will be barred from playing in the Senior Open Championship.

Poulter, one of the key players who appealed against sanctions in the summer of 2022, also resigned shortly after losing that appeal in April 2023. Will Hatton's appeal suffer a similar fate?

“This site is a little bit chaotic,” Hatton told Golf Digest two weeks ago.