LIV golfer Jon Rahm appeals European tour fines and is clear to play in the Spanish Open
Captain Jon Rahm, of Legion XIII, hits from the 17th tee during the final round of LIV Golf Greenbrier at The Old White at The Greenbrier, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Credit: AP/Chris Trotman
Jon Rahm on Thursday appealed the European tour sanctions against him for playing the LIV Golf circuit, allowing him to play the Spanish Open and other European tour events until an independent panel decides if he must pay fines.
Rahm's formal appeal was a pivotal move because it allows him a chance to reach the minimum four European tour starts required to be considered for the Ryder Cup next year.
Rahm, a former Masters champion and world No. 1, joined the Saudi-funded league late last year for a signing bonus reported to be in the $300 million to $400 million range.
Other players who defected to LIV, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk, are going through the same appeal and are allowed into tournaments as the process plays out.
Hatton played the British Masters two weeks ago. Both are entered in the Spanish Open.
The European tour said in a statement, “Jon Rahm has a pending appeal against sanctions imposed on him and in accordance with the DP World Tour’s Regulations, he is eligible to participate in the (Spanish Open) later this month.”
The DP World Tour is the commercial name of the European tour.
Captain Jon Rahm, of Legion XIII, waits on the 11th hole during the second round of LIV Golf Greenbrier at The Old White at The Greenbrier, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Credit: AP/Scott Taetsch
“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,” Rahm said on Wednesday from LIV Golf Chicago, where he is battling Joaquin Niemann for the individual title worth $18 million to the winner.
Rahm said he has entered the Dunhill Links Championship and the Andalucia Masters. That would give him four starts because the Olympics counts toward the minimum.
The appeals process is the same as it was when several Europeans first joined LIV Golf in the summer of 2022. An independent panel, Sport Resolutions, ruled in April 2023 the players committed serious breaches and the European tour was within its rights to penalize them.
“I'm glad Jon decided to appeal and he can play his events in which he wants to play and be eligible,” European captain Luke Donald said Thursday from the Irish Open. “I know the Ryder Cup means so much to him, and I’m sure that was a massive factor in his decision.”
Rahm is primarily opposed to being fined for playing LIV events opposite tournaments he had never played or did not intend to play. Among European tour events opposite LIV this year were stops in Bahrain, South Africa, Japan, China and the Czech Republic.
“He has his thoughts and he doesn’t agree with the fines and paying fines, especially for events that he would never have played on the DP World Tour. But those rules are the rules, and they were certainly in place when he signed with LIV,” Donald said.
Donald said he hoped golf's landscape would be different before the September 2025 matches at Bethpage Black. Executives with the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia met this week in New York to continue negotiations about PIF becoming a minority investor in PGA Tour Enterprises and what that would mean for players on both sides.
The tour and PIF first had a framework agreement announced in June 2023.
“I'll take today as a nice little victory for me personally to know that Jon is eligible and can play his three events now," Donald said. “What happens in the future, I can't tell. What happens in 15 months, I think all of us thought something more would happen.”
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