Jon Rahm may be preparing an exit from LIV Golf. There are apparently fears within LIV Golf that Rahm, who is undoubtedly one of the biggest names on the breakaway circuit, will leave after the 2026 campaign, according to The Telegraph's James Corrigan. If that comes to fruition, it would be a massive blow to the venture that is trying to find a way to survive beyond the season. The DP World Tour is "increasingly confident" that Rahm will return next season, too. According to Corrigan, some believe that the European tour has already been primed about his decision. It's unclear when Rahm will come to a final decision. LIV Golf is set to hold a tournament in Indianapolis next week. It is widely expected to cancel the team championship in Michigan later this month, too, so next week's tournament will be the final one in the 2026 campaign. The logistics of Rahm's potential split aren't known, either. He still has multiple years left on the reported $300 million deal he first signed to jump over to LIV Golf in the first place. He even said in May that he didn't "see many ways out" of the contract. But, according to Corrigan, Rahm is still owed a "nine-figure" portion of that deal. Rahm has won 11 times on the PGA Tour in his career. He picked up his only major championship win at the Masters in 2023, though the former top-ranked golfer in the world finished in second at the PGA Championship earlier this year. He's won multiple times with LIV Golf this season, too.
A potential Ryder Cup decision is looming Things aren't solidified just yet, but the breakup between Rahm and LIV would make sense for a number of reasons. First, LIV Golf's future has been incredibly murky after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund announced earlier this year it would no longer fund the league after the season. That sent the league into turmoil, and left CEO Scott O'Neil and others scrambling to find new financial backers. LIV announced earlier this month that it had secured an unnamed "lead investor" to find the league for years to come, but specifics were not announced. The name of the investor was kept quiet, too. LIV also announced that golfers would be able to own equity in the league. But Rahm, according to Corrigan, "is not enamored by the prospect of the new LIV iteration." Then on Wednesday, the DP World Tour reportedly started notifying LIV Golf members that it would resume imposing heavy fines and suspensions as part of its conflicting events rule in 2027. That essentially was the European league drawing a line in the sand and forcing LIV Golf members to choose between them and LIV Golf after it had allowed conditional releases for members to play in this season. Rahm had struck a deal to pay off his fines and resume playing with the DP World Tour this season after a long feud. Had Rahm not reached that deal, he would have lost his DP World Tour membership and been ineligible for the Ryder Cup in 2027. That league controls the European team, and members must be in good standing with the Tour in order to participate in next year's competition in Ireland. If Rahm ends up staying with LIV Golf next season, his status for the European Ryder Cup team next fall will absolutely be in doubt. It's unclear where the PGA Tour stands with Rahm. It could force Rahm to serve a one-year suspension, like Patrick Reed had to, in order to return. Or it could offer him a path back like it did with Brooks Koepka earlier this year, which came with heavy fines and restrictions. But regardless of the specifics or the reasoning, LIV Golf losing Rahm would be just the latest blow for the league this season. Rahm is arguably the biggest name left with LIV Golf, behind only Bryson DeChambeau. Losing him would not only take more eyes away, but would make a pitch to potential new financial backers that much harder to sell.