Last week, Jon Rahm made it clear that he would not join LIV 2.0. Now, the two-time major champion will make his first start since leaving the upstart league he joined at the end of 2023.
Rahm is committed to playing at next month’s Abu Dhabi Championship, the final event of the DP World Tour season. The news came a day after that tour he made a big anti-LIV movement of his own.
Here’s what you need to know.
Jon Rahm to play in Abu Dhabi Championship on DP World Tour
Wednesday, in court for LIV Golf’s Chapter 11 bankruptcyRahm’s lawyers said that the terms set by LIV for the future of the tour were “unacceptable”, and that Rahm “will not participate” in LIV 2.0 in 2027.
With his career LIV Golf immediately ended, and a Immediate return PGA Tour impossibleRahm’s only realistic plan was to start playing on the DP World Tour full time. The only question was when.
Now, Rahm is officially set to make the first start of the rest of his golf life. The 2023 Masters champion is scheduled to meet at the Abu Dhabi Championshipwhich runs from November 5 to 8 at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, UAE
It will be Rahm’s first start as a non-LIV golf player since November 2023. In December of that year, Rahm shocked the entire golf world by announcing that he would join LIV Golf for the 2024 season. Rahm was offered $350 million in guaranteed money to sign with LIV. While it is not known exactly how much of that money Rahm was paid, he is the largest creditor listed in LIV’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Rahm won LIV’s individual season title all three years he played in the league. During that time, he continued to play on the DP World Tour, including three non-major starts so far this year at the Scottish Open, Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship (he missed last week’s Open de Espana while he and his wife, Kelley, await the birth of their fourth child).
Despite having 10 DP World Tour wins in his career, Rahm has failed to win one since joining LIV. The 2023 Masters was his last victory sanctioned by the DP World Tour. His most recent non-major European win came at the 2022 DP World Championship.
Although Rahm’s decision to leave LIV came last week, a development that came this week could have forced his hand if he waited.
Monday, the DP World Tour has announced that they will not allow any player who signed with LIV 2.0 to play in DP World Tour events during the 2027 season.. Many LIV players considered playing LIV and the DP World Tour next year, but now it will be impossible. They will officially be being forced to choose between two distinct paths: LIV 2.0 or DP World/PGA Tours.
Additionally, if a player joins LIV 2.0, they will forfeit their DP World Tour membership and will therefore be rendered ineligible to play on the European Ryder Cup team.
Both realities are likely non-starters for players like Rahm.
As for when and where Rahm will make his second post-LIV start after Abu Dhabi, next week is a good bet. Rahm is a three-time winner of the season’s DP World Championship, which begins Nov. 12 at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
