Jon Rahm has revealed he has ended his dispute with the DP World Tour, which returns the Spaniard to contention for next year’s Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, but he played down the sense of golfers sharply exiting LIV. Rahm, who has been tipped to make a return to the PGA Tour, has cited tight contractual terms as a reason he and others are not completely in control of their own destiny.
The abrupt exit of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) from LIV – the Saudis will remove finance at the end of this year – has left the tour scrambling for alternative investment. Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are LIV’s biggest names, whom many assumed would already be glancing towards a playing future elsewhere. Rahm urged caution.
“As of right now, I have several years on my contract left,” Rahm said. “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.”
Rahm did admit PIF’s change of approach towards LIV, after more than $5bn (£3.7bn) of commitment, left players in shock. “I would say, like everybody, surprised, obviously unexpected,” he added. “We did [previously] hear the news that there would be funding through for many years, so [it was] unexpected.
“Then as the future of the league goes, I think that’s obviously a question for the business people. We want to be here. It’s been a lot of fun. I want to keep competing. I want to keep sharing some time with them. But only time will tell.”
Rahm had been engaged in a lengthy and high-profile standoff with the DP World Tour over fines relating to LIV participation. He is once again eligible to play in that domain after settling overdue monies and committing to play in five, non-major DP World Tour events in 2026. “There was some concessions on both sides,” Rahm said. “I offered some, they extended an olive branch. Obviously we’ve reached an agreement. That will not be a stress any more.” Including, that is, for the European captain, Luke Donald, who otherwise faced the prospect of defending the trophy in Ireland next September minus Rahm.
Scott O’Neil, LIV’s chief executive, is the man faced with the invidious task of plugging the gaping hole about to be created by a Saudi departure. O’Neil explained he was still in the early phases of piecing together a plan aimed at attracting investors. Intriguingly, he refused to clarify whether PIF wants a form of monetary return. The fund remains the majority shareholder in LIV. “In a situation like this, it would be too early to be speculating on what will happen with the value creation, what our new investor or investors will be looking for,” O’Neil said. “That will all come out in the wash, if you will, in the next few weeks as we go to market. So it’s a bit early for that.”
O’Neil claimed to have received “a dozen inbound calls” in recent days from potential funders. He added: “It was a split between private equity, family office, and then your traditional high net worth; you probably know who they are, the guys who invest in sports and sports teams. So that’s been really positive.”
