Jon Rahm should pay the fines levied against him by the DP World Tour in order to play in the Ryder Cup, Justin Rose says.
But Rahm “may have a point,” Rose said, in the tour making Rahm and other tour members play additional tour events as part of a settlement for participating in LIV Golf events.
Rose’s comments came Tuesday at the Players Championship, and they follow a DP World Tour announcement on Feb. 21 that said eight of its members had been given conditional releases to play in LIV events this year, in exchange for payment of fines for playing in past LIV events, participation in “additional” tour events and withdrawal of appeals. Previously, DP World Tour pros who played in conflicting events were fined and suspended — and the announcement cleared the way for participation on next year’s European Ryder Cup team, as tour membership is required.
But Rahm was not among the eight. (Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, David Puig and Elvis Smylie were the LIV pros who were named.) As for his reason, Rahm said last week it came down to the additional events requirement — for a pro to hold DP World Tour membership, he must play four events, but Rahm said he was being asked to play six, including two that the tour will “dictate.”
“Now, I did tell them, funny enough, lower that to four events, like the minimum says, and I’ll sign tonight,” Rahm said. “They haven’t agreed to that. I just refuse to play six events. I don’t want to, and that’s not what the rules say.”
Rahm’s participation in next year’s Ryder Cup event now appears to hinge on an appeal of the DP World Tour’s punishment for playing in LIV events. On Tuesday, the situation led a reporter to ask Rose what he’d like to see his three-time Ryder Cup teammate do — and Rose started his answer by noting that the eight other LIV pros had agreed to the deal.
“So I mean, there’s pretty decent precedent that the deal wasn’t outrageous that they were proposing,” Rose said.
“But at the same time, I would like to see Jon pay his fines, for sure, and be a part of the Ryder Cup. For me, obviously playing on LIV was a decision that he made and wanted to make, and fair play to him for making it and good for him. He’s playing good golf out there. He’s winning. He’s making a lot of money, and he’s — you know, you can’t argue, can’t knock what he’s been able to achieve out there.
“So I would just see it as a cost of doing business for Jon. Like for me, being in the Ryder Cup is more than about money.”
But, Rose said, Rahm “may have a point” in his frustration over playing six events.
“So maybe there’s some middle ground,” Rose said, “where he’d do his best to support the Tour as and when, but not necessarily have that hung over his head, but paying his fines is obviously step No. 1.”
Rose’s comments also follow those of Rory McIlroy, another European Ryder Cup team member, who said last week that the DP World Tour deal was “generous” and that ”the European Tour can only do so much to accommodate these guys.”
Whether Rahm’s status will be resolved remains unclear. Last week, he won a LIV Golf tournament, and this week, he’s playing in one in Singapore, where he was asked how he has succeeded “with all of the distractions,” and, as part of his response, he said this:
“I think, like anybody else in their job, you just need to learn how to compartmentalize. Kind of put things in the back of your mind and take care of what you can take care of. There’s some things that I can’t control. If I can’t control them, I really shouldn’t be worrying about it. What I can control is what I do on the golf course, my routines, how I prep, how committed I am to every step of the way.
“In essence, it’s kind of like a freeing feeling that I get when there’s a lot going on off the course that you get on the course and the only thing that matters is that so you can let things go. …
“All the other stuff, it’s what it is. I don’t know how to say this except truly, without sounding rude, it’s first-world problems. It’s what it is. There’s real problems in the world, and whether I have an agreement or disagreement with the DP World Tour, it shouldn’t be one of them.
“While we continue to discuss what the future might be, it’s not something to overly worry about when there’s real tragedy happening worldwide.”