Jon Rahm on Oct. 7 announced that LIV Golf has left the golf league amid audience and financial uncertainty to transition to LIV Golf 2.0.
He is not sure where he will play next.
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Rahm spoke with the media on Tuesday for the first time since his decision to leave LIV Golf. He wants to play on the PGA Tour in 2027, but he’s not sure if he “has a way back.”
If he doesn’t, Rahm says he will play next year on the DP World Tour, the top men’s professional golf league. The top 10 players at the end of the season from the DP World Tour would earn a PGA Tour card.
Rahm is uncertain about his ‘return trip’ to the PGA Tour.
Rahm made his comments from the Yas Links in Abu Dhabi for the final in the DP World Tour Playoffs.
“I still have a discussion with the PGA Tour to see if the tour remains for next year,” Rahm said, per Golf Week. “So I don’t know, as of now. Until I get the clarity on that, yeah, my plan is to spend a year in the DP Touran World and I’m looking forward to it.”
Jon Rahm is not sure where he will play next year after he retires from LIV Golf.
(Associated Press)
What his journey to the PGA Tour will look like without earning his way onto the DP World Tour is uncertain. When asked, Rahm said he would probably want the same penalties that Brooks Koepka did on his return trip from LIV Golf. But he does not wait to accept the offer.
“Mostly, yeah. Why not?” Rahm said about paying under the same terms as Koepka. “Yeah, but it’s a big if.”
“I seriously doubt that I would do the same thing that I did to Brooks. But yeah, if I were to offer the same punishments to him, he would probably do it, yes, he would.”
Koepka’s income came at a cost of $85 million in earnings
Koepka announced his return to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf in January through the “Returning Members Program.” At the time, the PGA Tour offered immediate reinstatement to select players who had won either the Championship, The Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open or the British Open between 2022 and 2025.
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The reinstatement offer comes with substantial penalties including a five-year forfeiture of participation in the player equity program, up to an estimated $85 million in player compensation for Koepka. The PGA Tour drew those penalties on Koepka’s return.
“His strict limitations, which Brooks agreed to, five years of fined potential equity in the PGA Tour player equity program, representing one of the largest financial repercussions in the history of professional sports, with estimates that he could miss approximately $50-85 million in potential earnings, depending on his competitive performance and the growth of the Tour.
“At the request of the PGA Tour, Brooks also agreed to make a $5 million charitable contribution, the recipient of which will be jointly determined.”
Patrick Reed’s journey includes the DP World Tour and equity
Koepka was the only player to withdraw from LIV Golf under these terms on February 2. After completing the date, the PGA Tour entered its “Returning Member Program.” Rahm would have been eligible for the terms of his 2023 Masters win if he chose to accept the offer.
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Patrick Reed is not eligible for the “Returning Member Program.” In place of the LIV journey in Aug. He left in 2025, and when he played on the DP World Tour, when he essentially served a one-year suspension that ended on August 25, he ranked No. 2 on Tuesday and officially earned his PGA Tour card. When he returns to the PGA Tour, he will be subject to the same player equity forfeiture program as Koepka.
Rahm on Tuesday floated skipping the DP Tour World Tour route that Reed is taking, but is understandably skeptical of the PGA Tour’s usefulness in such a proposition.
Bryson DeChambeau, meanwhile, has indicated that he is participating in plans for LIV Golf 2.0. DeChambeau was arguably the league’s first player and was also eligible for the “PGA Tour Returning Members Program.”
The penalties for returning LIV golfers are in place due to a significant disruption from players failing to join the PGA Tour at the start of LIV Golf in 2022. The LIV was a new golf league offering lucrative packages to siphon players off the PGA Tour in a threat to the health and bottom line of the US.
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The initial iteration of LIV Golf was funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, since it carried the sport of washing away the nation’s human rights violations. The fund has since withdrawn its financial support, putting the future of LIV Golf in jeopardy.