Jon Rahm to quit LIV Golf ahead of LIV 2.0 relaunch
Jon Rahm will quit LIV Golf rather than sign up for its proposed relaunch.
His attorney, John Beck, told a US bankruptcy hearing that Rahm had reviewed the terms for LIV 2.0 on his own, found them unacceptable and will not take part going forward. The two sides are now working to finalise a separation agreement by 15 October, The Guardian reported.
It is a sharp break. Rahm signed almost three years ago and became one of LIV’s two biggest names alongside Bryson DeChambeau. He won a third straight LIV individual season title in 2026.
LIV is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the US, a court process that lets a business keep operating while it restructures its debts. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund withdrew its backing at the end of the season after spending $5bn (£3.7bn) in four years.
The court has already loosened LIV’s grip on some players. Sergio García and others successfully petitioned to lift the automatic stay — the court freeze that locks contracts in place during bankruptcy — freeing them to pursue other opportunities next year. Rahm did not get that lift.
That leaves money and paperwork tangled. Rahm is reported to be owed up to $150m (£113m) for the remainder of his LIV deal. His legal team and the league must now agree how, and if, that is settled.
What happens next for Rahm is not simple. The PGA Tour set up a returning-member reinstatement programme in January open only to Rahm, Cam Smith, DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka. Koepka was the only one of the four to accept. Rahm turned it down.
He must now serve a mandatory one-year suspension until late August next year before he can return to the PGA Tour. He has kept his European route open. In May he paid around £2.21m in fines to the DP World Tour for playing in competing events, which gave him conditional releases for 2026 and made him eligible for the Ryder Cup.
Rahm withdrew from this week’s Open de España in Madrid to stay at home. His wife Kelley is expecting their fourth child.
For fans, this means a waiting game. As recently as May, Rahm said he had multiple years left on his LIV contract and saw few ways out. By August, LIV sources were described as “almost resigned” to him leaving after the 2026 season, The Telegraph reported. He declined to commit on his future in September when LIV entered restructuring.
Now the decision is made. One of the breakaway’s defining signings is walking away just as it tries to build what comes next.
