Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are teammates who enjoyed Ryder Cup success, but the major champions differ on how Jon Rahm handled continued frustration on the DP World Tour. Rahm has put his Ryder Cup future in doubt as he becomes the only LIV golfer of the nine players to submit a conditional release and not sign a contract with the DP World Tour for the 2026 season, a move McIlroy has questioned ahead of this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour.
“In my opinion, this is a really generous contract,” McIlroy said. “This is a much softer contract than the one Brooks (Koepka) took to come back and play on the PGA Tour.
“Look, there’s a limit to what the European Tour can accommodate these players. So if you want to play in the Ryder Cup, you have to be a member of the DP World Tour. To be a member of the DP World Tour, you have to follow the rules and regulations. And those rules and regulations were, ‘OK, if you break your media rights agreement and play in a conflicting event, you don’t get a release and you’re subject to a fine.’
“So the players didn’t want to pay the fine, and that’s fine. So the European Tour said, ‘Okay, let’s come up with a solution where you don’t have to pay the fine. That way, we can ease the burden on you and still maintain your membership.’
“And look, there’s a reason why eight out of nine people got that deal, right? I think it’s a really good deal. Obviously John doesn’t think so, and he’s obviously entitled to think that way. But I don’t know what more the European Tour can do to keep them in the membership.”
McIlroy and Rahm’s Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton were among eight LIV Golf members who agreed to the DP World Tour’s terms, which allow them to play this season without additional fines or termination. The contract also stipulates that the player must participate in six DP World Tour events. Typically, you must participate in at least four tournaments to maintain your membership. Two additional tournaments will be held at the Tour’s discretion. Rahm described it as “extorting players.”
Rahm said if it was a contract that required the usual four-tournament minimum on the DP World Tour, “I would sign it tonight.”
“(Two extra tournaments) is no big deal,” McIlroy said. “So to maintain membership you need four events on the DP World Tour outside of the major championships. And that to me… Yeah, okay, maybe the European Tour will have a say in where those two events are. But I mean, John shouldn’t want to go to South Africa next week (with LIV Golf), but he’s going to go there.”
Rahm, a two-time major champion, needs to compete in 14 events at LIV Golf. He was appealing the fine imposed for competing in these conflicting competitions in 2024. This allows Rahm to retain his membership on the DP World Tour, serve as captain, and compete in the 2025 Ryder Cup. Luke Donald announced as captain of the European national team in 2027 on wednesday.
It remains to be seen whether Rahm will be part of the team for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland, but he will not be there unless issues are resolved with the DP World Tour, which runs the European portion of the tournament.
“The Ryder Cup is bigger than anyone. It’s bigger than all of us,” McIlroy said. “We come and go. Players go through the system. It’s all about the platform. We should all be grateful that we have a platform like the Ryder Cup to play on, to be able to showcase our skills and obviously be part of something bigger than ourselves. So at the end of the day, it’s about the team and there’s no player bigger than the team.”
