When many PGA Tour pros left the American circuit for LIV Golf in 2022, former world No. 1 Jon Rahm had anything but good to say about it. He was staunchly anti-LIV, pledging his fealty to the Tour even. But in late 2023, he got swayed. For him, it was taking a risk for a better future, burning bridges with the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. He even threatened his Ryder Cup future. Little did he know the risk would turn into a failed gamble.

Last month, PIF announced that it was withdrawing its funding from LIV. The immediate reaction for many was how the Saudi league would survive. For Rahm, the extinction of the league would mean much more, probably pushing him to finally address the $3 million-worth elephant in the room.

“The DP World Tour and Jon Rahm have come to an agreement on conditional releases to play in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf during the remainder of its 2026 season. This involves payment of all outstanding fines accrued from 2024 to date, along with participation in agreed DP World Tour tournaments (outside the majors) in the remainder of the 2026 season,” DPWT said in its official statement. 

Rahm confirmed the news at a Virginia press conference, with details emerging that he will have to play five events on DPWT by the end of the season. He has agreed to pay the $3 million fine he previously appealed in 2024 before withdrawing earlier this March. He will additionally pay $300,000 sanctions for three conflicting LIV events in 2026.

What’s interesting, though, is that he doesn’t necessarily agree that his views on anything have changed. But he has his own reasons to accept that olive branch the DPWT extended in March. But things changed with PIF’s decision. You see, the urgency increased.

Since 2024, Rahm believed that the DPWT was extorting players by fining them for playing in the breakaway league. This also left his Ryder Cup prospects in limbo, as settling those fines is required to regain DPWT membership and eligibility to play for Team Europe. But if LIV Golf did really cease to exist, he would not have any league or circuit to play in. As he said Tuesday…

“I offered some; they extended an olive branch. Obviously, we’ve reached an agreement. That will not be a stress anymore.”

Now, he can return to DPWT events after his T9 finish at the 2025 Open de España. Until now, DPWT had prohibited him from playing unless he paid the fines or accepted the Tour’s March offer. The latter allows conditional 2026 releases to LIV pros who dropped their appeals, paid fines, and played two extra events. Eight took it up, except Rahm.

He challenged the DPWT’s penalties before a U.K. arbitration panel in September 2024. The appeal allowed him to fulfill the required event quotas for DPWT qualification, locking in his place on Europe’s Ryder Cup squad. A negative result, everyone knows, would have resulted in a bleak future. However, that is no longer the likely outcome.

Meanwhile, the breakaway circuit is now hunting for new backers, with its first such official partnership coming with New York-based Ducera Partners. But with PIF’s departure, LIV’s future beyond this season remains uncertain. The update has affected the pros as well. It would not be a stretch to say a similar worry prompted this response from Rahm. But he is not leaving LIV hanging either.

Rahm makes his intentions for LIV clear as the league develops a business plan

Once Rahm agreed to join LIV Golf, he knew returning wouldn’t be easy. Good for him, he doesn’t even wish to.

“We want to be here,” Rahm said. “It’s been a lot of fun. I want to keep competing. I want to keep sharing some time with [my teammates], but time will tell. Obviously, I think Scott and his team have a lot of hard work to do.”

While the players would be doing their part, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil talked to the reporters on Tuesday. He said he received about a dozen calls from potential investors this past weekend, including private-equity firms and other high-net-worth individuals.

“It’s still early,” O’Neil said. “We haven’t gotten to market yet. We haven’t finalized our business plan. We still are like picking and prodding, but we have a good sense at this point, you know, 10 days in. We know where we’re going, and now we’re just going to tighten the screws.”

One thing that remains confirmed is that the LIV will not change its team format, which helped differentiate it from other pro leagues. However, he does believe that he could leverage his star players and sell shares of those teams to create value.

While everyone is busy solving their issues, the President of the United States wants bigger things.

Donald Trump wants something bigger than this for Jon Rahm

Trump, like any other golf fan, wants to see the big names compete against each other to improve the sport’s overall experience, and he did not shy away from revealing his wish.

“I’d love to see LIV. But I do believe that all of the golfers should be playing – the great golfers – should be playing against each other. I want to see Rory [McIlroy] playing Bryson DeChambeau. I want to see big Jon Rahm play Scottie [Scheffler], who is so great,” Donald Trump said at the Oval Office earlier this month.

LIV Golf delayed its June New Orleans event, with organizers aiming to reschedule it later this year. The next stop is May 7-10 at Trump National Doral, where we expect to see Trump. But with many PGA Tour pros still carrying the scar tissue from the 2022 lawsuit by the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson, we will have to wait and watch what happens next. What’s sure for now is that we can expect Rahm back on the European Tour.