Jon Rahm agrees deal to play on DP World Tour after paying off outstanding fines leaving him free to feature in Ryder Cup

Jon Rahm has reached a resolution with the DP World Tour to pay all of his outstanding fines as part of an agreement that will see the Spaniard return to play on the DP World Tour and be eligible for selection at the 2027 Ryder Cup.

The DP World Tour confirmed that as part of the deal, Rahm was required to pay off all of his outstanding fines from 2024 to date, believed to be around $3m (£2.21m).

The news means that the 31-year-old will now be eligible to qualify for next year's Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.

A spokesperson for the DP World Tour said: "The DP World Tour and Jon Rahm have come to an agreement on conditional releases to play in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf during the remainder of its 2026 season.

"This involves payment of all outstanding fines accrued from 2024 to date, along with participation in agreed DP World Tour tournaments (outside the Majors) in the remainder of the 2026 season."

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The news comes after the European Ryder Cup player announced in March that he had withdrawn his appeal against sanctions imposed by the DP World Tour for playing on the rival LIV Golf league.

An 11-time winner on the DP World Tour, Rahm had previously shown no inclination that he would satisfy those penalties, even accusing the DP World Tour of "extorting" eight other LIV Golf players who had also been offered conditional releases.

Players, including Justin Rose, had called on Rahm to pay his fines, as eight players, including Tyrrell Hatton and Tom McKibbin accepted the DP World Tour's offer to retain their membership status.

It is understood that the conditions of Rahm's arrangement were the same as those previously accepted by the eight other players.

Rahm has also played in multiple LIV Golf tournaments during the 2026 season, and the stipulations for the Spaniard's release included paying fines relating to those events.

He will be eligible to earn Race to Dubai points at next week's PGA Championship and subsequent qualifying events this season, with Rahm having been ineligible to earn DP World Tour rankings points at The Masters in April, because he was still in breach of the tour's regulations, having not paid up his fines.

The routes back to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour

Last week, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced it would be cutting its funding to the breakaway golf league following the conclusion of the 2026 season.

In a statement released on Thursday, the PIF said the "substantial investment required is no longer consistent" with the fund's investment strategy moving forward.

It is understood that over the past year, LIV has burned through around $100m (£73.78m) each month in an attempt to sustain itself and an estimated $6bn (£4.43bn) since its inception in 2021.

The news has cast doubt on the rebel league's future, with LIV announcing several major changes to its board of directors. Over the weekend, Sky Sports revealed that the league had hired restructuring experts at consulting firm AlixPartners to help advise on its business plan. On Monday, LIV also announced that it had "retained" Ducera Partners LLC as its investment banking advisor.

But amid the uncertainty, Sky Sports understands that several LIV players have sounded out both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour over the possibility of being reinstated.

Questions had revolved around how LIV Golf's 'Blue Chip' players, Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, would return to the PGA Tour, after they snubbed an offer to be reinstated on the US Tour via the Returning Member Programme. Brooks Koepka took the deal, which came with certain financial stipulations.

It is believed that should the PGA Tour look to offer Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith a pathway back, it could come with heftier sanctions than those Koepka faced.

Rahm joined LIV Golf in late 2023 on a reported $300m (£220m) contract.

He could return to the PGA Tour in a similar vein to Patrick Reed, who rejoined the DP World Tour at the beginning of the year, using his Lifetime Membership exemption, which he won after winning The Masters.

The top-10 players on the Race to Dubai Rankings can win their PGA Tour cards for the following year, and Reed, who currently ranks top of the standings, is on track to win back a berth on the American Circuit.

Theoretically, Rahm, Hatton and the other eight former DP World Tour players could follow Reed and win their tour cards this year. With Rahm able to earn Race to Dubai Ranking points from next week's PGA Championship, he could even win back his PGA Tour card to play in 2027.

Horschel: 'There will be some form of a road for a lot of these guys'

Speaking to the Sky Sports Golf Podcast, PGA Tour and DP World Tour player Billy Horschel said:

"If you have a price and that person doesn't agree, and then they come back. That offer is not still on the table; that offer is going to change a bit. I would think going forward with those three players, if they do offer something, it's going to be a different offer. I think when it pertains to the other players, I don't think anyone else has PGA Tour Eligibility access. So I don't know what's going to happen. There will be some form of a road for a lot of these guys.

"Some of these guys may not have a road. I don't see a road for Phil Mickelson back to the PGA Tour, even though he's a lifetime member of the PGA Tour and he's done a lot and there is a lot of stuff that he said he did. There were certain things behind the scenes that he said he did and certain things behind the scenes before LIV came out, and I don't think it's going to work out for him. And rightfully, I don't think he wants to even come back to the PGA Tour or even the Champions Tour.

"It's going to be nice that when all this is all said and done, there is not this sort of bickering back-and-forth. I'm all for competition; it breeds a sense that you have to make changes to be better. You have to be innovative, you've got to do things to still be the top dog in professional golf.

"Going forward, it is going to be nice to have the players who want to get back to playing PGA Tour golf, the guys that want to be back playing on the DP World Tour, under one big umbrella, is somewhat harmonious."

More to follow...

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Jon Rahm agrees deal to play on DP World Tour after paying off outstanding fines leaving him free to feature in Ryder Cup