Jon Rahm Says He Left LIV Golf Because He Would Not Follow Its New Path
Jon Rahm has said he left LIV Golf because he was not willing to follow the path the league was taking. In comments reported by BBC Sport, the Spaniard said he liked the idea behind the league's first version, LIV 1.0, but was not happy with the changes made for LIV 2.0.
The main complaint, as Rahm described it, is the shape of the event. LIV started out with teams. Rahm said the new version seemed to move away from that team format and towards a regular tournament, where players simply compete for themselves.
Rahm's exit was not a quick walk-out. He joined LIV from the PGA Tour in December 2023 in a deal reported at £222m ($300m). In October he reached a separation agreement, a settlement that ends a contract by mutual agreement. The deal was filed in a New Jersey bankruptcy court, according to the Associated Press. Reuters reported that it requires him to stop trying to collect $7.47 million owed to him from past events.
ESPN has reported that Rahm was owed about $100m (£75m) from the rest of his LIV contract when he left. BBC Sport carried the ESPN figure.
LIV's own position has grown harder. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund pulled its backing in April, after putting in more than $5bn (£3.8bn). In September, LIV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. Chapter 11 lets a company keep trading while it restructures its debts. LIV has since secured possible financing of $300m (£224m) to move forward with LIV 2.0.
For players, the bigger question is how to get back to the PGA Tour, which automatically bans LIV golfers for a year. Brooks Koepka returned after the Tour rewrote its rules in December. His return came with sanctions, including a $5m charitable donation. Rahm said that if he were offered the same penalties, he probably would accept them.
Rahm has a separate route to keep playing. In May he reached a deal with the DP World Tour, the main European circuit, to keep his membership. That also keeps him eligible for next year's Ryder Cup, the biennial team contest between Europe and the United States.
Other players are weighing the same choices. Rory McIlroy said he would vote to have LIV defectors back on the PGA Tour. Ex-US Open champion Graeme McDowell confirmed he was leaving LIV, saying "I've decided not to pursue LIV 2.0." His best finish on the league was a tie for second in Virginia in June 2025.
Rahm's own record on LIV is hard to overlook. He won his third straight LIV individual season title before leaving, as Reuters reported in August. He now leaves a league that lost its main funder and is in bankruptcy, and he says the thing he cared about most had changed. Whether he returns to the PGA Tour, and on what terms, is the next question for him and for the tours.
