The DP World Tour is reportedly working toward a resolution where it would stop fining its members for competing in conflicting LIV Golf events starting this year.
The specifics aren’t totally known, per reports by Flushing It and Sports Illustrated, and not even Jon Rahm, the biggest name in this saga, has all the details. But speaking to reporters ahead of LIV’s season opener in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Rahm confirmed something was in the works.
“I personally would say I don’t know too much about the matter,” Rahm said. “Obviously, I think at first, managers are going to be taking care of that early on. I don’t know what the negotiations look like. Obviously, they’re going to players individually to make different deals. I don’t know what it may be or what it’s going to look like, but I’m happy to see that looking for a path forward for LIV players to be able to play on both tours and not to get penalized.”
The DP World Tour has been fining members for playing in conflicting LIV events since the inception of the rival league in June 2022, a decision that was later cleared through arbitration. Rahm revealed recently that he’s accrued fines around $3 million since joining the Saudi-backed cricuit in December 2023, though he and LIV teammate Tyrrell Hatton are awaiting an appeal that was filed in late 2024. Both Rahm and Hatton were permitted to compete in last year’s Ryder Cup, though their futures in the biennial competition have been uncertain.
LIV will no longer pay fines beginning this year, and the league has reportedly been negotiating on having the current fines eliminated or reduced, per SI. Part of the DP World Tour’s new reported offer, past fines would still need to be settled, players would need to apply for conflicting-event releases, which will be approved, and the DP World Tour would likely dictate a handful of its own events that it wants those players to participate in.
LIV has yet to comment on the matter, while the DP World Tour told SI via statement: “We continue to have dialogue with individual members involved to explore and discuss options.”
Rahm has teed it up in six DP World Tour events outside of the majors since joining LIV, including this past season’s DP World Tour Championship, which also featured LIV members Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk and Lucas Herbert. Also, David Puig won the season-opening Australian PGA last November.
“I think the example of players like Tom or David Puig, who’s now a winner on the European Tour, who just chose the best path possible as young players, shouldn’t be penalized because of the politics of the game,” Rahm added. “The fact that they’re looking at a positive way to figure it out, I think it’s only good for us, and I think it’s good for the DP World Tour as well.”
Added Hatton: “It sounds positive, so if things are moving in the right direction, that’s good for golf. Yeah, we’ll let other people figure that out, and we’ll just focus on playing golf this week.”