Jon Rahm rejection of DP World Tour deal a ‘shame’, says Rory McIlroy
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland signs autographs for fans prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
PHOTO: AFP
MIAMI – Rory McIlroy said on March 4 that it is a “shame” that Jon Rahm’s dispute with the DP World Tour has put his Ryder Cup future in doubt, but added that the matchplay tournament can survive without the Spaniard.
“The Ryder Cup is bigger than any one person,” he said, as he prepared for the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida.
Rahm has rejected the DP World Tour’s deal to settle his fines for playing on the breakaway LIV Golf tour.
The European-based circuit announced in February that eight LIV players had signed the agreement, which included a commitment to play more DP World Tour events, in return for a release to play in LIV Golf in 2026.
Rahm said on March 3 that the DP World Tour was “extorting players”, adding that he would play four of its events, in line with current membership rules, but not six.
But McIlroy said he thought the conditions offered by the DP World Tour were “much softer” than those imposed on five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka to return from LIV to the PGA Tour.
Koepka had to pay US$5 million (S$6.4 million) to charity and is ineligible for PGA Tour equity shares for five years.
He also loses out on FedExCup bonus money in 2026 and cannot play in elite signature events unless he qualifies.
“Look, there’s a reason eight of the nine guys took that deal,” McIlroy said.
“The DP World Tour is well within its rights to protect itself as a members organisation and as a business. And if you asked any DP World Tour member about the deal that they have cut with the LIV guys, I think they would all say that it was pretty generous.
“Again, there’s a reason that eight of the nine took it. And one guy thinks a little differently, that’s a shame.
“If you want to play on the Ryder Cup, you have to be a member of the DP World Tour... you have to abide by the rules and regulations.”
Rahm has been on every European Ryder Cup team since his 2018 debut, but McIlroy also said the loss of one player would not dim the lustre of the showpiece.
“It’s (the Cup) bigger than all of us,” he said.
In other news, a midnight flight out of Oman on a private jet arranged by Rahm brought seven players out of a war zone and into safety 24 hours before the start of LIV Hong Kong on March 5, according to Golf.com.
Several LIV Golf players live in the United Arab Emirates and have been struck in Dubai during the war in Iran.
Golf.com reported Lee Westwood, Anirban Lahiri, Thomas Detry, Sam Horsfield, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk and Caleb Surratt and a caddie travelled in a shuttle van to the Oman border.
They switched to another shuttle for transportation to an airstrip where the aircraft waited to fly the group to Hong Kong. AFP, REUTERS
