Jon Rahm missed out on a fourth Open de Espana title this past week, but he still managed a top 10 finish in Madrid after shooting a final round 65.
It was his first event since helping Europe win the Ryder Cup, and while he had to fight just to make the cut, he eventually finished only five shots behind Marco Penge.
Unfortunately for fans of the two-time major champion, it looks like that will be his last appearance in a competitive tournament for quite some time.
The Spaniard has confirmed that he doesn’t plan to return to competitive play until the opening event of the 2025 LIV Golf season in Riyadh.
LIV Golf schedule expected to undergo changes next year
The league is expected to make changes to its format and schedule ahead of its fourth campaign. Reports suggest there could be an increase from three-round events up to four rounds, with individual tournaments possibly being replaced by more team-based competition.
Regardless of what those changes look like, it seems clear that Rahm will be stepping away from regular tournament play until then. The PGA Tour has already begun making adjustments as well. The tour’s signature events have dropped their no-cut formats ahead of the new season.
Rahm’s next step after Open de Espana raises fresh questions about his future
Rahm has also decided not to take part in the November playoff events, another blow for the DP World Tour, who will be disappointed not to have him in the field.
While Rahm also skipped Abu Dhabi and Dubai last year, there is an additional layer of interest this time around.
Together with Tyrrell Hatton, Rahm is appealing against fines from the European Tour over their participation in LIV Golf events. The appeal process allowed both players to remain eligible for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage, though it is expected they will ultimately lose that appeal.
The outcome could impact their future involvement in the Ryder Cup. Dan Rapaport spoke on Dan on Golf about Rahm’s actions, suggesting they are a deliberate challenge to the DP World Tour.
“He finishes the year without a win. And the reason I say he finishes the year without a win is he said he will not be playing again until the LIV season starts up, which means he won’t play the DP World Tour Championships over there in Dubai. And this is interesting. This is very interesting.
Because the reason that Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were eligible to play the Ryder Cup despite going to LIV Golf was that they have appealed their suspensions to DP World Tour. You have to be a member of DP World Tour,” Rapaport said.
“Ostensibly, if you’re appealing your fines, you’re still trying to support them.” He went on: “Tyrrell Hatton played at the beginning of this year too and actually qualified on points because of how well he did there.
“But Jon Rahm now seems as if he’s calling them out saying ‘I’m not going to play and you’re not going to suspend me from another Ryder Cup’. Because ‘I’m Jon Rahm.’” He also reflected on Ian Poulter’s comments ahead of Bethpage: “We had Ian Poulter before that event talking about how hard it was for him now that he wasn’t involved anymore.“
“He said specifically because Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton literally play golf at LIV and aren’t banned for it while others are facing issues with eligibility.”
“And my response was simply that both guys are too important for Europe so they won’t do anything about it just like Ian Poulter alluded too back then as well.””
What Jon Rahm had to say about DP World Tour fines in 2024
Not everyone has been happy with how the fines have been handled over the past few years. Players who moved to LIV obviously weren’t pleased, and several big names even gave up their memberships because of it.
There was a time when LIV covered those penalties for players. But that support is expected to end after this year.
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Sergio García eventually paid his fines hoping it would help him get back into the Ryder Cup squad in 2025.
Back in 2024, Rahm made it clear he had little interest in paying those fines and didn’t seem eager to resolve the situation anytime soon.
“I’m not a big fan of the fines. I don’t intend to pay the fines and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen,” he told BBC Sport at the time.
The issue now seems close to reaching a resolution, especially with LIV stepping away from paying players’ penalties and an appeal decision expected soon. But whether that will clear things up for fans remains uncertain.
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