Jon Rahm aims to maintain Ryder Cup eligibility amid tight schedule

CHICAGO – Jon Rahm, locked in a battle with Joaquin Niemann for the LIV Golf points championship, said on Sept 11 that he wants to play in three DP World Tour events to remain eligible for the 2025 Ryder Cup.

One caveat – if the European tour lets him.

The Spaniard said his representatives are talking with DP World Tour officials about him playing in the Sept 26-29 Spanish Open, a tournament he entered “a long time ago”.

At issue is that Rahm refuses to pay fines levied by the tour for jumping ship to LIV.

“Whether they let me play or not is a different thing. I’m not a big fan of the fines, I’ve been outspoken about that. I don’t intend to pay the fines, and we keep trying to have a discussion about how we can make this happen,” he said.

Rahm is also eyeing the Oct 3-6 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland and again in Spain, in the Andalucia Masters (Oct 17-20). Those three would at least meet requirements for Ryder Cup eligibility.

“I’ve said many times, I don’t go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else,” the 29-year-old added.

“I think it’s my duty to Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in Sotogrande. At that point, it would almost be doing not only me but Spanish golf a disservice by not letting me play.”

There is an apparent avenue for him to play, if he appeals against the sanctions. LIV’s Tyrrell Hatton competed at the British Masters after appealing against his sanctions, with the penalties to be resolved at a later date.

Turning his focus back to LIV for now, Rahm leads Niemann by about three points in the race for the individual points title heading into this week’s penultimate tournament in Chicago.

“Obviously, it would be a great accomplishment to win it in my first season,” he said.

“It is the goal, but it’s not easy to do, especially with how great players like (Niemann) have played. Even just getting to this point, it’s been a good year. I think I was playing better golf than I was given credit for.”

Meanwhile, Niemann said that “there is obviously a big goal for the season this week”.

“One of my goals was to win the season, and yeah, there’s a little extra pressure, which I feel like is nice. It’s part of the sport and being competitive,” he added.

“For me, it fuels me in a good way to get better, to work harder, and to be more ready for that position.”

The 25-year-old Chilean is concerned, though, that the championship ring, should he win it, would be nicer than the wedding ring his wife has.

The ring has 5.78 carats of white diamonds, with 1.2 carats of natural green emeralds, green glow-in-the-dark UV enamel detailing and 1 carat of black diamonds and a 14 carat gold weight of 84.8 grams.

“That’s pretty cool. Probably my wife won’t be happy knowing that my ring would have more,” he joked.

“I feel it’s pretty special. It’s a little different than other trophies, so it would be pretty cool to have an extra ring.” REUTERS, AFP