Negotiations over a final agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, owners of LIV Golf, continued last week with a meeting in New York. And that’s good news for the European Ryder Cup team. Why? Because several European stars ply their trades on LIV Golf, and those players are currently ineligible to compete in the biennial contest that resumes next fall at Bethpage Black. The most notable among them is two-time major champion and former World No. 1 Jon Rahm, who left the PGA Tour for LIV this season, then won the 2024 LIV individual title last week.bubba watson stares in the distance at liv individual championship in chicagoLIV just ‘dropped’ a Masters champ. But what happens next?Rahm is arguably still the best European pro golfer, but he’s so far refused to pay hefty fines levied against him by the DP World Tour to regain membership on that tour. Without it, he can’t play in the Ryder Cup. Justin Rose, another longtime European Ryder Cup star who, along with Rahm, helped the team to a big victory at the 2023 event in Rome, is among those players hoping a deal gets done so they can fortify the team with LIV stars like Rahm. Speaking at a press conference ahead of this week’s BMW PGA Championship, Rose revealed that he hopes talks between the PGA Tour “accelerate” in order to help Team Europe in 2025. “I think we need things to accelerate quickly,” Rose explained. “Obviously the lads who have gone off to LIV — there was a period of time now where obviously we’re seeing scenarios with Tyrrell [Hatton] and Jon [Rahm] having gone, as well, but they’re still very much current in terms of form of playing in the Ryder Cup, and I know there’s a few outstanding I’s to be dotted and T’s to be crossed for them to be eligible, but I think the sentiment in the team is we want the best players playing.” Rose then argued that without a final deal, the pathway to the Ryder Cup for players like Rahm and fellow LIV pro Tyrrell Hatton narrows, saying, “I think the world of golf does need to start resolving itself quickly because there is still a little bit of a divide, us, them, LIV. I think it’s hard to make those admissions back into the fray unless we’re all on the same path pretty quickly.” But there is one current way for LIV stars to gain eligibility for the European Ryder Cup without a PGA Tour-PIF deal in place. Unlike the PGA Tour, which banned LIV defectors from playing in Tour events, the DP World Tour instead fined and suspended its players who joined the upstart league. Should any LIV pro pay the fines and serve the suspension, they regain membership and Ryder Cup eligibility. There’s a recent example to prove that fact. Bernd Wiesberger was among the first players to join LIV back in 2022. In 2024, he chose to take the existing pathway back to the DP World Tour, paying his substantial fines and serving his suspension. Last week, Rahm appealed his fines and suspension, allowing him to temporarily play DP World Tour events without punishment. In an interview with bunkered, Wiesberger expressed frustration with Rahm’s “loophole,” which Hatton also followed previously.Jon Rahm and Bernd Wiesberger shake hands on the ninth green during Day One of The 2021 Open de Espana at Club.‘Sour taste’: Ex-LIV pro calls out Jon Rahm’s loophole back to DP World Tour, Ryder Cup “I don’t really like the look of it,” Wiesberger told bunkered, “…This ‘going around corners’ now, I don’t really like it, but I like that we have the best players possible playing our tournaments. It’s a little bit of a conundrum in that sense for me.” When asked if there was a chance Rahm and Hatton wouldn’t be on the team next year, Rose admitted it was possible, but he also noted the existing pathway they could take if a deal doesn’t get done. “There’s quite a simple pathway for them to be on the team. So I don’t think — it’s going to come down to their own personal decisions,” Rose said, “but I think if they choose to cooperate or go with the structure that’s in place, they’ll absolutely be on the team.”
