Jon Rahm has made his second decision. Only time will tell if this proves more successful than his first. If not, Europe’s Ryder Cup scene is about to get messier than anybody could have expected.
By his own admission, Rahm anticipated the pace of play towards collaboration in elite men’s golf to be considerably sharper than has proven the case. He probably even expected his switch to LIV last December to accelerate talks between Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and traditional tours. Instead, the sport remains in a state of flux. Each entity ploughs its own furrow.
Last week, Rahm came within hours of forfeiting his Ryder Cup place on a point of principle. The Spaniard objects to the imposition of fines already worth hundreds of thousands of pounds by the DP World – formerly European – Tour for his involvement with LIV without requisite permission. To Rahm’s credit, he is unwilling for LIV to pay these penalties on his behalf.
A Rahm appeal has allowed him to enter three upcoming European events, which in turn will allow him to fulfil his membership obligations for 2024, so keeping him in the mix for Bethpage and a Ryder Cup defence next September.
For the time being, that is; Rahm remains adamant he will not pay the fines, which raises the question of what on earth will happen if he loses his appeal at some point, presumably in the first half of 2025? And the clear odds are that will happen, given a sporting arbitration panel judged in favour of the European Tour Group on this matter in April 2023.
Two elements of this remain unsatisfactory. Golf’s fault line has always existed between the PGA Tour and the LIV circuit which has caused it all manner of problems, including by the pinching of star names. The DP World Tour has a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour which means it has to dance to the tune from Ponte Vedra Beach but we now have a scenario where the Ryder Cup, a totally separate entity, is affected.
The DP World Tour has never been engaged in outright warfare with the Saudis. Indeed, speculation continues that the PIF could align with the Europeans, thus creating a worldwide challenge to the PGA Tour, if last year’s framework agreement withers on the vine.
If the PGA Tour is serious about a properly collective approach, now 15 months on from preaching about that very thing, it should tell its European equivalent it can do what it likes with the Ryder Cup. The biennial joust should not be collateral damage in someone else’s row.
The PGA Tour has no claims whatsoever on the Ryder Cup; unlike the Presidents Cup, which has remained a LIV-free zone despite the fact it is a competitive farce. The Ryder Cup is, however, hugely important to the DP World Tour and its finances.
People may turn their nose up at Rahm and his LIV involvement; a stark reality is the Ryder Cup is harmed, including commercially, without his involvement. Regardless of what transpires over the next year Rahm – a star as the United States were vanquished in Rome – will be one of Europe’s leading dozen golfers.
The second problem relates to the fines themselves. It is difficult to shake the notion these are elaborate ransom demands. “Pay us hundreds of thousands – a tiny percentage of your LIV income – and we will open the Ryder Cup door.”
For a competition supposedly providing the purest form of sport, where a virtue is made of players not receiving a penny, this feels vulgar. It will suit the DP World Tour to sit behind rules, regulations and protecting the rights of their rank and file members but the fact the appeal option existed for Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton only demonstrates leeway exists where there is a proper will.
Luke Donald, Europe’s captain, expressed frustration in recent days that men’s golf is not in a more advanced place. Donald is bright enough to foresee a nightmare scenario. If the Rahm fine situation blows up again far closer to Bethpage, Donald’s position will be an invidious one. Both Rahm and Donald are banking on this case being resolved, somehow in their favour, in short order. This presently feels a huge leap of faith.
