A week after Jon Rahm’s attorney informed a New Jersey bankruptcy court that he “will not participate” in LIV Golf 2.0, the proposed second iteration of the league after Saudi Arabia dropped its funding of the league, the Spaniard has agreed to a separation agreement.
In the agreement that was filed late Wednesday, Rahm owes LIV Golf “no further service or performance obligations under any contract … and may join or contract with any tour, league, or sponsor without notice to or consent [from LIV Golf].”
According to the separation agreement, Rahm was granted his name, image and likeness rights as well as rights to “RAHMBO” and “Legion XIII,” the name of his LIV Golf team. The separation agreement does not include any monetary compensation for Rahm, who according to filings in the Chapter 11 case was owed $7.5 million when the league filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 8.
According to court records, Rahm is LIV Golf’s largest unsecured creditor, and it’s believed that the 31-year-old was owed more than $100 million.
“[Rahm] has independently reviewed the proposed terms of LIV 2.0 ... and has determined that those terms are unacceptable to him, and he will not be participating going forward,” Rahm’s lawyer John Beck told the court last week.
For Rahm, the agreement is a crucial step if he hopes to return to the PGA Tour. Tour officials have consistently said that players must be able to prove they have no contractual obligation to LIV Golf before negotiations can begin for a possible return.
The Tour could now reinstitute a version of the “returning member program,” which allowed Brooks Koepka to return to the circuit this year, to expedite Rahm’s return or he could play the DP World Tour in 2027, essentially serving his one-year suspension, and return to the Tour in 2028.
There is currently a soft deadline of Oct. 25 in the bankruptcy case for other LIV players to announce their plans to either stay with the league or move on like Rahm.
