Jon Rahm has made his second decision. Only time will tell if it is more successful than his first. If not, the European Ryder Cup situation is about to become more chaotic than anyone expected.
Rahm admits that he expected the pace of collaboration in elite men’s golf to come much faster than it has proven to be. He may have even expected that his switch to LIV last December would hasten negotiations between Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the legacy tours. Yet the sport remains in a state of flux. Each entity is trying to forge its own path.
Rahm was nearly stripped of his Ryder Cup last week on a matter of principle. The Spaniard was objecting to a fine of hundreds of thousands of pounds imposed on him by the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) for playing in LIV events without a permit. To his credit, Rahm was unwilling to let the LIV pay for the fine.
Rahm’s appeal allows him to play in the three upcoming European events, which in turn will allow him to fulfill his membership obligations for 2024, allowing him to continue playing at Bethpage and defend his Ryder Cup next September.
For now, Rahm is refusing to pay the fine, which raises the question of what happens if he loses the case at some point, presumably in the first half of 2025? This will clearly happen, given that the Panel of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of the European Tour Group on the matter in April 2023.
Two of those factors remain unsatisfactory. The fault line in golf has always existed between the PGA Tour and the LIV Tour, which has caused all sorts of problems for golf, including the loss of star players. The DP World Tour has a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour, which means it has to follow the orders of Ponte Vedra Beach, but now the Ryder Cup, a completely separate entity, is affected.
The DP World Tour has never been in direct conflict with Saudi Arabia. In fact, there is still speculation that the PIF could ally itself with Europe to launch a global challenge to the PGA Tour if last year's framework agreement fails.
If the PGA Tour is serious about collective cooperation, then after 15 months of promoting the concept, it should tell its European counterparts that the Ryder Cup can do whatever it wants. The biennial Ryder Cup should not become someone else's collateral damage.
The PGA Tour has no ownership of the Ryder Cup, unlike the Presidents Cup, which remains off-limits to the LIV despite being a competitive farce. However, the Ryder Cup is extremely important to the DP World Tour and its finances.
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People may scoff at Rahm and his involvement in the Ryder Cup; but the reality is that the Ryder Cup will suffer, including commercially, without his involvement. Whatever happens next year, Rahm — who was the star when the American was beaten in Rome — will still be one of Europe's top 10 golfers.
The second problem has to do with the fines themselves. It’s hard to shake the idea of these carefully crafted ransom demands. “Pay us a few hundred thousand dollars — a fraction of your LIV earnings — and we’ll open the door to the Ryder Cup for you.”
For a competition that supposedly offers the purest form of sport, it feels vulgar that athletes are seen as a virtue for not taking a penny. The DP World Tour is supposed to follow rules, regulations and protect the rights of its rank-and-file members, but the fact that Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton have the option of appealing only shows that there is wiggle room, given the right will.
Luke Donald, the European captain, has expressed frustration in recent days that men's golf hasn't made more progress. Donald is smart enough to foresee the nightmare scenario. If the Rahm fine incident re-emerges near Bethpage, Donald will be in a daunting position. Both Rahm and Donald are counting on the case to be resolved quickly, in one way or another, in their favor. For now, it feels like a confidence boost.
