Jon Rahm Shrugs Off Potential PGA Tour Return Amid LIV Bankruptcy

Jon Rahm left the PGA Tour in December 2023 and joined LIV Golf in a deal reported to be between $300 million to $600 million.

Jon Rahm Shrugs Off Potential PGA Tour Return Amid LIV Bankruptcy

Jon Rahm (Image via Imago)

On Tuesday, LIV Golf made a major announcement regarding its future and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Just a few hours before this, Jon Rahm shrugged off a potential return to the PGA Tour in an interview ahead of the Irish Open this week.

As per the documents, Rahm is the largest unsecured creditor. The 2-time major champion is owed around $7.5 million. Just behind him is Bryson DeChambeau, who is owed $5.7 million.

These documents have once again raised questions regarding the future of Rahm, DeChambeau, and the other players. Rahm’s future has been in question for around a month now after reports in August suggested that he could be departing the league soon.

As per reports from The Telegraph, inside sources at LIV Golf were almost resigned to the news of Rahm leaving. The Spaniard was expected to make a decision soon.

The former World No.1, however, has not confirmed anything yet. This week, he will be teeing off at the Amgen Irish Open, one of the 5 DP World Tour events he agreed to play this year.

Ahead of this event, he was asked about his future and a possible pathway for a return to the PGA Tour. He shrugged off the question and expressed that he was more than willing to fulfil his contract with LIV Golf.

There’s just a lot of things in place. There’s a lot of things that could happen. It’s one of those things with time, time’s going to tell. I still have a contract with LIV 1.0 that I’m more than willing to fulfill. Like I said, time will tell. We’ll see what happens.

Jon Rahm told BBC Northern Ireland

Earlier this year, Rahm did have the chance to return to the PGA Tour. After the exit of Brooks Koepka from LIV Golf, the PGA Tour came up with a one-time Returning Member Program.

Under this program, a player who had won either The Players Championship or any one of the 4 majors since 2022 and had been away for 2 years could return to the tour. Koepka met these criteria through his PGA Championship win in May 2023.

Rahm also met these criteria through his Masters Tournament win in April 2023. However, he, Bryson DeChambeau, and Cameron Smith turned down the chance to return and decided to fulfil their contract with LIV Golf.

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Golf insider claims Jon Rahm left LIV Golf players’ group chat in August

Jon Rahm’s future with LIV Golf is currently uncertain. With the league filing for bankruptcy, there are some talks that he could be on his way out. On Tuesday, a golf insider claimed that Rahm left the LIV Golf players’ group chat a month ago, in August.

Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm (Image via Imago)

As per inside Tom Hobbs, the LIV Golf stars were informed about the bankruptcy filing in the group chat by CEO Scott O’Neil. Rahm seemingly left the group chat on August 9, just before the LIV Golf New York event. Later, Rahm went on to claim his 3rd successive individual title

LIV Golf has currently planned 10 events for the 2027 season. The league also revealed working on expanding the playing field to 75 and implementing the cut feature.

Whether Rahm will be part of this field next year remains to be seen. His potential exit would be a major blow for the league, which spent hundreds of millions of dollars to bring him from the PGA Tour in December 2023.

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